Family’s nagging question: Did person of interest in VA deaths say it was an honor to serve?

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Members of a West Virginia family looking back at their father’s mysterious death at a VA hospital believe they talked with an employee now considered a person of interest in a federal investigation.

Gina Wilkins, daughter of veteran Russ Posey, said she can’t be sure of the woman’s identity. But she recalls conversations with a hospital employee who matches what has been described in some media reports.

“She just came in and told me it was an honor serving my dad, which I thought was very nice. I didn’t think very much about it at the time,” Wilkins said of the nurse’s assistant who was on the night shift.

“When she came back on shift, she did say ‘Oh, you’re still here,’ which kind of caught me off guard.”

Russ Posey was a navy veteran of World War II

Russ Posey, a Navy veteran who was publicly identified as a possible homicide victim for the first time today, is one of about 10 veterans who died under suspicious circumstances at the VA hospital in Clarksburg.

Five other victims have been identified publicly. They include veterans William Alfred Holloway, Felix Kirk McDermott, George Nelson Shaw, Archie Edgell and John Hallman.

“Our hearts go out to the families affected by these tragic deaths,” Wesley Walls, a spokesman for the Louis A. Johnson VA hospital in Clarksburg, stated earlier this month.

The deaths are being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Inspector General for the VA. Those involved with the case have suggested a person of interest no longer works at the VA but has not yet been arrested.

The Washington Post reported last month that the person of interest initially was transferred to a desk job, and then was fired after a few months. She was accused of falsely claiming on her resume that she was certified as a nursing assistant.

“The more I learn, the more I understand mistakes were made in the hiring of this person,” Vince Posey, son of Russ Posey, said today on MetroNews’ “Talkline.”

“How can this happen?”

Walls noted that the VA reported the suspicious deaths to the Inspector General in late June 2018.

“The fact that VA fired the individual at the center of these allegations offers a small measure of accountability, but it is now incumbent on VA’s independent inspector general, which has been investigating this issue for more than a year, to deliver justice.

“This was an isolated incident involving a single, now-fired person, and the notion that policies and protocols can somehow stop those intent on committing crimes strains credulity.”

Russ Posey was 92 and a World War II veteran.

He was a West Virginia University graduate with a degree in agriculture engineering.

He had several different jobs over his life. He and his father ran a sawmill, he sold heavy equipment, and he opened and operated the Dari-Delite in Elkins for many years. He also owned a lawn and garden store in Elkins.

“Very hard working. Very proud of his family,” Wilkins said.

Russ and Nilva Posey enjoy a celebration. Russ, who served in the Navy, died under suspicious circumstances at the VA hospital in Clarksburg.

Posey was admitted to the Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center in June 2018. He was treated for pneumonia for several days in the intensive care unit. After treatment and fluids, he began to improve and spent time chatting with family.

“He talked to all of us, reminisced,” Wilkins said.

On June 17, 2018 — Father’s Day — Posey was moved from the ICU to 3A, a unit where all the other mysterious deaths occurred.

He was improving but then took a dramatic turn for the worse overnight as his blood sugar plummeted. Normal blood sugar levels for a non-diabetic range from 70 to 130 mg/dL. At 5:30 a.m., the Posey was at 14.

“They called and said there was an issue with his sugar level, and it was not very good,” Wilkins said.

He was not diabetic but went into a diabetic coma.

“I didn’t know what to think. I just said ‘What happened?’ I said ‘This is odd. I don’t get it. What’s going on?'” Wilkins said. “The answer I kept getting was ‘We don’t know.'”

He died in hospice on July 3 and was buried on July 6, 2018.

Two weeks later, federal investigators told family members Posey’s death was suspicious and that he had been given insulin. The family was told Posey’s death could have been a homicide, and investigators wanted to exhume his body.

“How would that happen in a VA hospital, a hospital that you trust,” Wilkins said. “We were very shocked.”

The body was exhumed, but the family has concerns over the autopsy, which was conducted in a metal shed at the cemetery where Posey had been buried. The results were inconclusive.

“It was kind of a weird way to do an autopsy,” Vince Posey said.

Additional deaths are apparently being investigated, but the victims have not yet been identified. The cases share several characteristics.

Each patient was on 3A of the Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center in Clarksburg. And each experienced crashing blood sugar before dying. Most had no history of diabetes and were not supposed to receive insulin injections.

“I’m not sure what to think. It was wrong, whatever the person did to cause this,” Vince Posey said. “We’re still trying to come up with the reality of why they did it.”





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