Eric Shinseki's Image Repair for the Veteran's Administration Health Care Scandal

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Concerns that veterans were not receiving timely medical care swirled about the Veterans Affairs (VA). In May of 2014, the Inspector General’s office issued a report confirming the scandal. Bronstein and Griffin (2014) reported that the VA had kept a secret list of veterans seeking medical care. “The secret list was part of an elaborate scheme designed by Veterans Affairs managers in Phoenix who were trying to hide that 1,400 to 1,600 sick veterans were forced to wait months to see a doctor.” Hicks (2014) explained that “The report said 1,700 veterans using a Phoenix VA hospital were kept on unofficial wait lists, adding that ‘these veterans were and continue to be at risk of being forgotten or lost in Phoenix HCS (HGS Engineering)’s convoluted scheduling process.’” Hicks also reported that VA documents indicated that 226 patients in a sample waited 24 days for initial appointments, but the actual wait for those patients was 115 days. The VA required timely treatment – or at least the appearance of timely treatment – and administrator bonuses were on the line.