AKAKA CALLS FOR RESTRUCTURING OF VA HEALTH CARE QUALITY MANAGEMENT
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI), Chairman of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, chaired a hearing today on quality management in the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, and called for accountability on a national level.
“While VA generally provides high-quality care for millions of veterans across the nation, the recent series of failures calls the health care system’s quality management structure into question,” said Akaka. “VA’s national leadership must retake control and hold personnel accountable. As Chairman, I am eager to collaborate with the Administration to make the improvements veterans deserve.”
Chairman Akaka remains concerned with the degree of control that has been ceded by VA Central Office in recent years. A series of quality management failures discussed at today’s hearing included surgery-related deaths at the Marion VA, unclean endoscopes that may have exposed veterans to serious infections, and severe failures at a Philadelphia VA cancer unit. At today’s hearing, the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General called for increased oversight of quality of care by the Veterans Integrated Service Networks.
For the Chairman and the witnesses’ full written statements, please click here.
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June 24, 2009
