The Department of Veterans Affairs fired three senior officials at the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Hospital Wednesday. The VA initially proposed the removal of Associate Director Lance Robinson, Chief of Health Administration Service Brad Curry and Chief of Staff Dr. Darren Deering in March. The VA cited negligence and oversight failures as reasons for the termination of the three administrators.
Dan Caldwell, a vice president of Concerned Veterans For America, said the firings are long overdue.
“It should not have taken two years to terminate these three individuals," Caldwell said. "It just demonstrates that we need deeper reforms to the VA, especially in regard to how it hires and fires people.”
Caldwell said he thinks the terminations did not go far enough and his group has advocated for criminal prosecution of the misconduct. The VA said the officials can appeal their removal.
The wait time scandal was first revealed in 2014 when whistleblowers testified before Congress that some veterans faced delays of up to a year for appointments and treatment. VA Hospitals around the country were also found to have created secret wait lists to hide the delays.
