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Our Veterans Deserve Better

Dear Neighbor,

We have a sacred responsibility to take care of the brave men and women who have served our country. Sadly, the conditions at the Washington, D.C. Veterans Affairs Medical Center, the flagship medical care facility in our nation’s capital, have fallen far below the standards we demand for our returning heroes.

For too long, serious and urgent problems have plagued this medical facility that serves 100,000 veterans living in our region. According to the Office of the Inspector General,
the DC VAMC put veterans at risk – through needless hospitalizations, unnecessary anesthesia, and failure to use preferred surgical techniques – because important supplies, instruments, and equipment were not immediately accessible. The level and breadth of neglect detailed in this report is inconceivable and callous.

While improvements have been made in recent years, the facility has at times had a backlog of over 10,000 open or pending consults for prosthetic items ranging from eyeglasses and hearing aids to surgical implants and artificial limbs. One patient waited more than a year for his prosthetic leg, and eventually gave up and moved to another state where a different VA facility promptly filled his request. In February 2019, a veteran from our community sought inpatient admission for drug withdrawal symptoms, anxiety, and pain management at the DC VAMC. After the hospital declined to admit him, the veteran’s wife found him dead of a gunshot wound in their home the following week. And just last month, there was a shocking report of a psychiatric patient who escaped from a locked area of the DC VAMC, traveled to Virginia, and abducted and assaulted a woman, resulting in his arrest. 

Since becoming Chairman of the Government Operations subcommittee, I have made it a priority to bring congressional oversight and accountability to the DC VA Medical Center. I personally visited the facility and witnessed both the challenges and opportunities for improvement. And last week, we put the medical center’s leadership on notice – Congress will not allow continued failures that threaten the health and safety of our veterans.

We must address pervasive understaffing, equipment and supply issues, and the culture of complacency that allowed these egregious incidents to occur. We have a responsibility to protect those who risked their lives to defend our nation, and I will never stop looking for ways to ensure the best care for members of the United States Military and their families.

As Chairman of the House Government Operations subcommittee, I am committed to providing oversight until this facility becomes a national leader and our veterans receive the highest quality health care. We will settle for nothing less.

Sincerely,
Gerald E. Connolly
Member of Congress


P.S. You can watch video from the hearing, including my opening statement and question line.

     

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