Printer Friendly Page

       

---------------

REPUBLICAN PRESS RELEASE

March 22, 2007

Buyer expects VA maintenance problems, now identified, to be fixed

Washington D.C. — House Committee on Veterans Affairs Ranking Member Steve Buyer (R-Ind.) cited as “thorough” a recent Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) assessment of its 1,400 hospitals, clinics, nursing homes and other facilities where veterans receive health care. Buyer, after reviewing the report of VA’s findings expressed concern that maintenance be a top priority at the department, regardless of the size, age or type of the facility.

“Approximately ten percent of the problems were serious, such as mold or roof leaks. This is ten percent too many,” Buyer said. “I expect VA Secretary Jim Nicholson to follow up his assessment, which I commend, with stiff marching orders to his senior executives and directors: fix the problems now.”

In a March 21 letter to Buyer, Nicholson stated that the findings are “a thorough snapshot of the condition of VA’s facilities at one moment in time, and the overwhelming majority of the issues identified are normal ‘wear and tear’ items that are continually addressed through regular inspections and maintenance.”

A March 21 Associated Press report termed the VA “beset” with serious issues. The vast majority of problems were defined by VA as routine, such as worn-out carpets and peeling paint. Yet, too many of these problems are being fixed too slowly.

“I am pleased that deficiencies have been identified so corrections can be made,” Buyer said. “Our veterans and their families deserve the best we can provide. It does not take billions of dollars for a director to paint a wall or get a new carpet. We saw that at Walter Reed Army Medical Center’s Building 18, where problems such as these were immediately fixed by Pentagon managers. Much of this comes down to quality of management and leadership.”

---------------

Larry Scott

Click here to make VA Watchdog dot Org your homepage