Federal Daily News
Lawmakers grill VA officials over new patient safety lapses
New lapses in patient safety at Veterans Affairs Department hospitals have prompted lawmakers to renew their call for additional accountability measures to improve VA care.
At a May 3 hearing before the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, members reviewed new reports that VA again failed to follow proper medical sanitization processes at major VA facilities, including those in Miami, St. Louis and Dayton, Ohio. At the Dayton facility, 535 veterans were notified in February that a dentist who did not change latex gloves or sterilize dental equipment between patients had put them at risk of acquiring blood-borne viral infections. The dentist, whom VA employed from 1982 to 2010, is now retired.
“The time for talk is over,” said Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.), the committee's chairman. “VA must confront these issues head-on, deepen the obligation to care for the veterans affected by these incidents and make the necessary changes within the VA health care system to prevent any future incidents that put our veteran patients at risk.”
A Government Accountability Office report and a review by the VA Office of Inspector General, both released at the hearing, pointed to weaknesses in policies and oversight of medical equipment at VA facilities. Other issues previously surfaced at VA facilities in 2008 and 2009.
“Despite changes to improve VA’s oversight with selected reprocessing requirements, weaknesses still exist,” the GAO report states. "These weaknesses render VA unable to systematically identify and address noncompliance with the requirements, which poses potential risks to the safety of veterans.”