CNN has reported that records of dead veterans were altered or changed — many in recent weeks — to cover up how many people died while awaiting medical care at the Phoenix VA hospital.
Whistle-blower Pauline DeWenter told CNN that “deceased” notes were removed from files to make statistics look better and so that veterans would not be counted as having died while waiting for care.
DeWenter is the scheduling clerk at the Phoenix VA hospital and reports that for nearly a year, she was ordered by her supervisors to manage and handle what they called a “secret waiting list”?that held the names of veterans who waited for months for care or never received care at all.
Prior to now, DeWenter has never spoken publicly about the scandal. She believes that dozens of veterans have died waiting for care. One of her roles was to call veterans when appointments were available, often finding that the veteran had died while waiting for a call. She would then enter the death on the veteran’s records.
From CNN:
“Because by doing that, that placed (the veterans) back on the wait list,” said DeWenter, explaining she believes that the purpose of “bringing them back to life” in the paperwork and putting the veterans back on the electronic waiting list was to hide the fact that veterans died waiting for care.
I would say (it was done to) hide the fact. Because it is marked a death. And that death needs to be reported. So if you change that to, ‘entered in error’ or, my personal favorite, ‘no longer necessary,’ that makes the death go away. So the death would never be reported then.”
DeWenter was shocked when she discovered that at least seven times since last October, records which she had personally handled and marked as “deceased” had been altered to show the veterans as living.
Perhaps even more incriminating, last year her supervisors instructed her to hide the Phoenix VA medical center crisis by concealing new treatment requests. At the time, the VA was actually paying bonuses to senior staff whose facilities met the goal of providing care within 14 days. But DeWenter reveals that the requests were actually stuck into a drawer to make the records look better. And that drawer became “the secret list.”
DeWenter said that in early 2013, as many as 1,700 veterans were waiting for care, with many waiting nine months or longer for an appointment. Hospital officials were aware of the crisis, but were focused on meeting goals so that they could collect bonuses. She found herself, as a clerk, being forced to make life and death decisions.
The cause of this problem is no surprise to anyone: a lack of doctors and appointment slots. Perhaps some of that bonus money could have been used to hire new doctors, eh?
DeWenter is coming forward now because she made a promise to a patient’s family (she won’t share the name) when she called to schedule an appointment and was told the patient had died. As he lay dying, he was screaming that veterans did not deserve this kind of treatment.
He was right. Read more at CNN and let us know your thoughts at the Liberal America Facebook page.
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Tiffany Willis is the founder and editor-in-chief of Liberal America. An unapologetic member of the Christian Left, she has spent most of her career actively working with ?the least of these? and disadvantaged and oppressed populations. She’s passionate about their struggles. To stay on top of topics she discusses,?like her?Facebook page,?follow her on Twitter, or?connect with her via LinkedIn. She also has?a?grossly neglected personal blog?and a?literary quotes blog that is a labor of love. Find her somewhere and join the discussion.
