As the U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs visited the Clarksburg VA hospital where multiple veterans were killed by a nursing aide, Senator Joe Manchin promised federal hearings about lapses that allowed the deaths.
“I want to make sure that what happened in Clarksburg has not been found anywhere else in the country, that we have not only corrected ours but made it much better,” Manchin said today on MetroNews’ “Talkline.”
Manchin, who serves on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, visited the Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center in Clarksburg today with Senator Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and Congressman David McKinley, R-W.Va.
They were joined by Denis McDonough, the new Secretary for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
McDonough took on his new role this past February. He was President Obama’s chief of staff and had not previously worked in the VA hierarchy. The killings occurred at the Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center from July 2017 to June 2018.
“He’s tough. He’s a tough guy. He’ll hold people accountable,” Manchin said of the secretary.
.@Sen_JoeManchin speaks with @HoppyKercheval about what he learned from VA Secretary Denis McDonough today. WATCH: https://t.co/yCFQ3nDJuy pic.twitter.com/7GPME0RTMt
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) May 17, 2021
Capito agreed a decisive and open approach is necessary.
“We want to restore the confidence and the morale, and we’re in a position to help not just this facility but the VA in general correct some egregious mistakes, make sure we don’t have something like this occur again,” Capito said today in Clarksburg.
Reta Mays, a former nursing assistant at the Clarksburg VA hospital, was sentenced to consecutive life terms for the deaths of eight veterans. Mays admitted causing their deaths by administering unnecessary and lethal doses of insulin while she worked the overnight shift.
Mays pleaded guilty to killing veterans Robert Kozul, Robert Edge Sr., Archie Edgell, George Shaw, a patient identified only as W.A.H., Felix McDermott and Raymond Golden. She is also accused of administering insulin to “R.R.P.,” another patient who was not diabetic, with intent to kill him.
A report by the inspector general for Veterans Affairs concluded that while Mays bore ultimate responsibility for the deaths, lapses in oversight allowed the veterans to be killed.
The inspector general’s report concluded that Mays’ earlier employment history meant she never should have been hired by the veterans hospital, which didn’t complete proper background checks. Allegations of excessive use of force were leveled against Mays while she worked as a corrections officer at the North Central Regional Jail.
And she also should not have had access to the insulin that caused fatal hypoglycemic episodes among the veterans. Medication rooms and carts were not properly secured on Ward 3 where Mays worked, the OIG report concluded, giving her unauthorized access.
“When we put out an inspection report, it’s for every medical center director to look at that to see if they have the same problem,” Michael Missal, inspector general for the VA, told reporters last week.
Congressman McKinley agreed that should be the goal.
“What we’re going to be holding the secretary and the administration to is accountability,” McKinley said today.
Although the inspector general’s report laid blame on leadership for the lapses that resulted in veterans’ deaths, several of the leaders at the time initially were shifted to jobs in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
The VA announced last Christmas Eve that the hospital’s director, Glenn Snider Jr., would no longer serve in that role. Snider was reassigned and has been working at a regional office.
The medical center’s top executive for nursing was also reassigned to another job within the agency last Dec. 28.
Manchin said today on “Talkline” that Snider abruptly retired this past Friday.
McDonough alluded to personnel changes during his visit to Clarksburg today, but said he would have to remain discrete about some of those.
“There’s been an ongoing set of important steps that the Veterans Health Administration and the new Clarksburg team have taken to turn around this facility as it relates to personnel and otherwise,” McDonough told reporters.
“I just received the full OIG report and the supporting evidence a few days ago. Our people are in the process of using this newly-released information to hold accountable actions that did not meet VA standards. This process will be fast. I’m going to be careful since I’ll be involved in decision-making about it.”
But McDonough acknowledged, “some people have been removed from their positions when facts first came to light. Some have been removed and others have filed their own retirement.”
Manchin said Senate hearings could help provide more specifics about what has happened to make the former top staff accountable. He said that Senate probe had to be delayed while criminal charges were assessed on Mays, but now may go forward.
“We’ll make it available to the public. Transparency is what we have to have now for our veterans in their service to our country, families who who supported those veterans and now families who are living without a loved one.
“We want to know what happened, same as the secretary wants to know what happened. Someone had to be held accountable and responsible — are they still getting a pension or have they been just passed around? We’re going to find that out.”
MORE: VA hospital leaders allowed lapses that led to veterans’ deaths. Then they got other jobs
MetroNews reporter Bill Dubensky contributed to this report from Clarksburg.