The Department of Veterans Affairs publicly announced on Wednesday that is formally removed three senior officials from the Phoenix VA Health Care System in the continuing wait-time scandal.
Those officials are: Lance Robinson, the facility’s Associate Director; Brad Curry, Chief of Health Administration Service; and Dr. Darren Deering, Chief of Staff.
“The three were removed for negligent performance of duties and failure to provide effective oversight for not ensuring Veterans were either properly scheduled for appointments or placed on an appropriate wait list,” the VA explained on its website.
VA Deputy Secretary Sloan Gibson described the removals as appropriate accountability actions based on existing evidence.
The VA has been under increasingly intense fire for scheduling problems. And the department put a $624 million contract with Epic to develop a patient-scheduling system on hold in April while it considers other, perhaps less expensive, options.
Robinson, Curry, and Deering are entitled to appeal. They will not be paid during that process, the VA said. The formal removal came after the VA recommended the move in March, and in the wake of the Phoenix VA firing Sharon Helman, who is suing the government to get her job back.
“While this process took far too long,” Gibson added, “the evidence supports these removals and sets the stage for moving forward.”
Twitter: @SullyHIT
Email the writer: tom.sullivan@himssmedia.com
