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Rutherford Questions VA Regarding Legality of Union Protest

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Congressman John Rutherford (R-Fla.), a member of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, sent a letter to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Shulkin asking that he look into whether proper leave protocols were followed by VA employees who engaged in recent union protests outside VA, AFL-CIO Headquarters and at the U.S. Capitol. The full letter can be found here.

Upon sending the letter to Secretary Shulkin, Rutherford released the following statement:

“I recognize and support the attendees’ freedom to exercise constitutional rights to participate in these rallies and protests,” said Rutherford. “I am, however, concerned that some VA employees may have violated federal law. A recent Government Accountability Office report shows how VA is not properly accounting for how much taxpayer money is being used on employees performing union activities. This is time and funding that should be spent on patient care or other services that directly benefit veterans. I am asking Secretary Shulkin to look into this situation to see whether these employees are fully complying with VA policy and adequately serving America’s veterans.”

Background
On February 13 and 14, 2018, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) protested staff levels at VA facilities through an event dubbed the “March on VA” outside VA’s central office and at rallies outside AFL-CIO Headquarters and the U.S. Capitol. When asked whether the VA employees who participated in these union events violated the standard for use of official time, where VA employees are permitted to work on union duties during work hours, the Department of Veterans Affairs responded that “employees may only participate in a rally or informational picketing while on leave. They cannot be in a paid duty status when they are protesting or rallying.” Rep Rutherford’s letter to Secretary Shulkin questions whether these protests meet the standard designated by federal law and whether attendees should have taken annual leave for the period in which they participated in the protests.

Rep. Rutherford: VA Fails Veterans by Hiring Dangerous Doctors

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following a recent investigation from USA Today on the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hiring and retaining medical providers who are unfit or not legally authorize to serve, Congressman Rutherford led a bipartisan congressional letter to Secretary Shulkin requesting information on how the Department oversees and hires its health professionals.  Current law prohibits the VA from hiring providers who have had their license revoked in any state to ensure quality care for veterans, yet reports show professional standards boards clearing the hiring doctors with histories of malpractice and sexual misconduct.

The USA Today article includes the following excerpt: “Neurosurgeon John Henry Schneider racked up more than a dozen malpractice claims and settlements in two states, including cases alleging he made surgical mistakes that left patients maimed, paralyzed or dead. He was accused of costing one patient bladder and bowel control after placing spinal screws incorrectly, he allegedly left another paralyzed from the waist down after placing a device improperly in his spinal canal. The state of Wyoming revoked his medical license after another surgical patient died. Schneider then applied for a job earlier this year at the Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Iowa City, Iowa. He was forthright in his application about the license revocation and other malpractice troubles. But the VA hired him anyway.”

Further, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a report this month showing that the VA failed to report 90 percent of problematic providers to their national database designed to prevent doctors found guilty of malpractice from crossing state lines.  

Congressman John Rutherford said, “I am appalled that the VA has hired felons, sexual predators, and medical providers with revoked licensures. Not only does this malfeasance put our veterans in serious medical danger, but this astonishing mismanagement of the vetting process subjects veterans to pain and harm that is completely unacceptable. While I recognize that the VA is taking action to remove these unfit providers from the system, they must do more to prevent this illegal activity from ever occurring again. Most VA employees share our commitment to ensuring our nation’s veterans receive the highest quality care possible, and we must work with them to remove all bad actors so the VA can fulfill its critically important mission of faithfully serving our nation’s heroes.”

 Rutherford is one of 30 signatories on the bipartisan letter including, Jack Bergman, Mark Meadows, Barbara Comstock, Madeleine Bordallo, Walter Jones, Ralph Norman, Ann McLane Kuster, Doug Collins, Tom O’Halleran, Beto O’Rourke, Mimi Walters, Mike Bost, Mike Johnson, Darrell Issa, Thomas Rooney, Jim Banks, Doug LaMalfa, Kevin Yoder, David Valadao, Roger Marshall, Ted Yoho, Andy Biggs, Neal Dunn, Steve King, Daniel Donovan, Jr., Charlie Crist, Peter DeFazio, Steve Pearce Ron DeSantis. The full text of the letter can be found below: 

December 18, 2017

 

The Honorable David J. Shulkin, M.D.

Secretary

U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs

810 Vermont Avenue, NW

Washington, D.C. 20420

 

Dear Secretary Shulkin:

We write today to express extreme concern regarding recent reports that the VA has hired medical providers, including surgeons, who have histories of malpractice and disciplinary actions taken against them.  These reports include the hiring of providers who have previously lost their medical licenses, providers who have a history of sexual misconduct, and providers who have a record of disciplinary actions that would preclude them from employment in the private sector.

We recognize and share your commitment to ensuring that our nation’s veterans receive the highest quality care from the best providers possible.  Therefore, recent reports of these bad hires, along with the recent Government Accountability Office report that found VA failed to conduct appropriate reviews and report doctors who received adverse privileging actions to state medical boards and other databases, are of great concern to us as we conduct oversight of the Department.

The hiring of doctors who have had their medical licenses revoked in any state is already prohibited, and clinical hires must be cleared through professional standards boards.  However, it appears the laws and regulations establishing that prohibition are not being followed by VA medical facilities.

As you are aware, the President signed the Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act into law in June.  This was a result of Congress’s and the American people’s outrage at the lack of appropriate disciplinary action within the VA.  We are encouraged by your exercise of these new authorities; however, these recent reports lead us to question if further action by Congress may be necessary.

In order to help us learn more about the VA’s response to these reports, we request the following:

·         Actions taken to terminate the employment of those listed in recent reports who should not have been hired by the VA;

·         Actions taken to discipline the professional standards boards who cleared the hiring of those providers with histories of misconduct and malpractice;

·         Any Department-wide guidance on how medical facilities review and conduct their hiring processes to prevent current hiring laws from being broken;

·         Actions taken to identify other current providers within the VA who have had disciplinary actions taken against them.

We thank you in advance for your prompt response to our concerns. We appreciate your dedication to our veterans and look forward to working together to ensure they receive the highest quality medical care available.  Please contact us with any further questions.

VA to help Hurricane Irma victims in Florida nursing homes

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U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin today announced that VA is making beds available where possible to non-Veteran nursing home residents affected by Hurricane Irma.
This comes following news reports from late yesterday that indicated, among other events,  eight residents of a Florida nursing home died from what appears to be heat exposure likely caused by faulty air-conditioning at their facility in Hollywood Hills.
Secretary Shulkin has been working with Florida Governor Rick Scott and Senator Bill Nelson and their staffs on this issue beginning yesterday evening.
“We thank Governor Scott and Senator Nelson for involving VA and are grateful we can help our fellow citizens where we can in this time of need,” said Shulkin. “All Americans are pulling together to help one another, and we must make a special effort for those most vulnerable to the conditions brought on by the storm.”
VA has the ability to make its facilities available to non-Veterans as part of its fourth mission to support national, state and local emergency management, public health, safety and homeland security efforts and also through a mission agreement with FEMA under a Stafford Act Declaration.
Secretary Shulkin agreed to make more beds available to non-Veteran nursing home residents as needed and free, while ensuring we continue our primary mission of providing healthcare to Veterans.
The VA is also working closely with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Federal Emergency Management Agency on the overall response to Irma, in addition to this specific issue.
“We will continue to look for ways to relieve the hardship this powerful storm has caused,” said Shulkin. “Much of the heavy-lifting to recover from the hurricane is still to come and our leaders and staff are determined to find as many ways as we can for VA to help in the response.”
More information on the VA’s response Hurricane’s Irma and Harvey can be found at: https://www.va.gov/.

Nelson, Rubio introduce bill to reform VA

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U.S. Sens. Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced legislation today aimed at reforming the Department of Veterans Affairs by making it easier for the VA Secretary to fire poorly-preforming employees.
The legislation aimed at holding VA employees more accountable would also create new protections for VA whistleblowers and ensure that employees who are terminated have an adequate opportunity to appeal their dismissal.
“This bill will help the VA provide better care to our veterans by removing the bad actors and protecting the good ones,” Nelson said. “The brave men and women who have served our country deserve nothing but the best, and this bill is another small step in ensuring that they receive the care they deserve.”
For years, the VA has been plagued by reports of inefficiency and long wait times. VA Secretary David Shulkin has repeatedly expressed support for legislation to hold VA employees more accountable.
The legislation filed today is the third bill Nelson has sponsored in as many years to hold VA employees more accountable. Nelson says that while he believes it’s important to hold poorly-performing employees accountable, he also believes it’s important to protect the rights of those employees who may have been wrongly terminated, especially at the lower levels, by giving theman opportunity to appeal a supervisor’s decision to fire them.
Specifically, the legislation filed today would:

  • Authorize the secretary to reprimand, suspend, involuntarily reassign, demote, or remove a covered individual from a senior executive service position, including removal from civil service, if the secretary determines that their misconduct or performance warrants such an action, subject to a VA-internal grievance process established by the secretary that must be completed within 21 days.

 

  • Authorize the secretary to remove, demote, or suspend for longer than 14 days without pay, subject to an appeal of their removal or demotion to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) for most non-senior executive service (SES) employees. The MSBP would then have 180 days to complete an expedited appeal and render a final decision, subject to judicial review by the U.S. Federal Circuit.

 

  • Protect whistleblowers from retaliation by not allowing the secretary to use this authority to fire employees who have filed a complaint with the Office of Special Counsel (OSC). The proposal would also establish an Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection for employees to bring to light major problems at the VA without losing their job or facing retaliation.

 

  • Streamline authority for the secretary to rescind an employee’s bonus or relocation expense reimbursement if the secretary deems it appropriate, and allow reduction to an SES employee’s retirement pension upon their conviction of a felony related to work performance.

 

  • Require the VA to provide periodic training to each supervisor on the rights of whistleblowers; how to address a report by an employee of a hostile work environment, reprisal, or harassment; how to effectively motivate, manage, and reward employees; and how to effectively manage employees who are performing at an unacceptable level.

 

  • Authorize the secretary to directly appoint individuals to the positions of Medical Center Director and Director of Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) if they have demonstrated ability in the medical profession, health care administration, or health care fiscal management.

 

  • Require the VA to provide reports to Congress on employee morale and the types of administrative action taken against employees and their effectiveness in disciplining employees.

Full text of the legislation is available here.

VA Selects UCF Historians to Archive Stories of Deceased Veterans

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University of Central Florida team of scholars has been awarded a $290,000 contract from the National Cemetery Administration, an agency of the Department of Veterans Affairs, to archive the stories of veterans buried in the Florida National Cemetery for a new generation of students. UCF is one of three universities selected to launch the NCA’s Veterans Legacy Program.
The project, led by Amelia Lyons, associate professor of history and director of graduate programs, will engage UCF students in research and writing about veterans’ graves and monuments. In addition, UCF faculty and students will collaborate with Central Florida schools to produce interactive curriculums for K-12 students and organize a field trip to the cemetery in Bushnell, which is the county seat of Sumter County.
Involving students of all ages in the project will engage the community with the service and sacrifice of veterans, and will give undergraduate and graduate students a real-life lesson in professionalization, Lyons said.
“This experience with primary research – from identifying the subject and stories, to analyzing the sources to produce a narrative, and becoming a published author – is like no other,” Lyons said.
“Learning about the lives and stories of these soldiers is also teaching our students what a historian does,” she said. “It makes history real for them.”
Luke Bohmer, a history graduate student, recently participated in a field research day at the cemetery. “It is vital to go to where the history is, whether it’s a cemetery, or an archive. This is more humanizing and palpable than any statistic could ever be,” he said.
Janelle Malagon, an undergraduate, said she has “always had an interest in military history, and the VLP was a great hands-on experience where I had the unique opportunity to learn the stories of individual soldiers throughout American history.”
The corresponding website exhibit created by the research team – including Scot French, digital historian, Amy Giroux, a computer research specialist in UCF’s Center for Humanities and Digital Research, and graduate student assistants – will use software to virtually map the research, and UCF’s RICHES Mosaic Interface to create a digital archive.
The public will also be able to participate in the project through an interactive element at the cemetery. Giroux will lead the team in the creation of an augmented-reality app, which will include student-authored biographies of veterans for visitors.
Students are already aware of the impact the program will have.  Malagon said the digital components will allow relatives to learn something about their veteran in a way that would not have been possible without the technology available today.
The Florida National Cemetery is one of 135 cemeteries overseen by the VA.  Team members recently visited the site to begin their research.
And UCF researchers have already begun integrating assignments for the project into their graduate and undergraduate courses.
Students, including those in Lyons’ Modern Europe and the First World War class and Professor Barbara Gannon’s War and Society classes are conducting research, searching for any documented history on the veterans whose graves will be selected.
Undergraduate students are excited to participate in the project.
Kristina Himschoot comes from a family with deep military roots.  Her parents met in the Air Force and both her grandparents served.  “The VLP is becoming more important to me every time I learn something new about it,” she said.  “I have the utmost respect for this project.”
Anson Shurr expects he will draw a deeper, more personal connection with veterans through his research.  “Seeing their graves in person, epitaph and all, is personal enough, but once you realize that in many cases they lived in the same town or street as you, or you see a surname you know, it really hits home,” he said. He was particularly struck by the fact that people his own age put their lives and dreams on hold in order to fight in a war.
Kenneth Holliday, who is both a student and Army veteran,  said that because April 6 marks the 100-year anniversary of the nation’s entry into World War I, the research is especially timely. ”We are in the centennial of World War I, there is no better time to recognize the service of these veterans,” he said.
Graduate students in Professor Caroline Cheong’s Seminar in Historic Preservation course are helping to identify the graves and monuments to be included and are photographing the sites for both the webpage and the app.
French, associate professor and director of public history, is having students in his Viewing American History in the 20th Century class create interactive digital materials for use on the website, and John Sacher, associate professor of history and liaison with public schools, is integrating the results of the project into K-12 curriculum that will be available for use in schools across the U.S.
In May, the UCF team and local middle- and high-school students will travel to the cemetery as a kickoff event for the program. UCF student researchers will interact with younger students at the cemetery, providing what Holiday sees as “a much more personal connection on an individual level. Instead of remembering the major battles and the big names of military and political leaders, the students and community can remember that at the heart of the conflict were average people that all of us can probably relate to in some way.”
Gannon, who is also coordinator of UCF’s Veterans History Project, said that because of the university’s engagement with veterans and rich history in creating extensive interactive exhibits and web-based tools, the funding doesn’t come of a surprise.
Other schools selected by the VA’s National Cemetery Administration for the project are San Francisco State University and and Black Hills State University.
“The award of these three contracts signifies the VA National Cemetery Administration’s dedication and commitment to providing enhanced memorialization and lasting tributes that commemorate the service and sacrifice of veterans,” said Ronald E. Walters,  interim undersecretary for memorial affairs.
The contracts are the first of many planned initiatives to engage educators, students, researchers and the general public through the Veterans Legacy Program. For more information, visit: www.cem.va.gov/legacy.