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Veterans deserve better at Haley

Removing the boss gets people's attention. But the Department of Veterans Affairs must do more if it is serious about improving conditions at Tampa's James A. Haley VA Medical Center.

Two in-house investigations last year found problems across the board at the nation's busiest veterans hospital. While putting someone new in charge should help, many of the shortcomings were so basic and persistent they showed a lack of appreciation of the role Haley plays in providing health care for nearly a half-million veterans in the region, including those seriously wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. The VA and Congress need to monitor Haley and hold its leaders accountable.

The VA announced Wednesday that Haley director Forest Farley Jr. had been reassigned to the regional office in St. Petersburg. The move follows two critical reviews by the agency's inspector general, who found that Haley had problems staffing its operating rooms, failed to properly maintain patient records and equipment and kept loose controls on a range of business and administrative affairs. The problems were big and small and, in some cases, uncorrected for years. Some life-saving equipment was not properly tested, staff no-shows caused hundreds of surgical delays and the operating room was insufficient to meet the heavy patient demand.

Haley is correcting the problems. But many, such as poor record-keeping and maintenance practices, reflect how tolerant managers had become of low workplace standards. New managers need to raise the bar, and the VA should hold this team responsible for changing the workplace culture. Surprise inspections would not hurt. Veterans in our seven-county area who rely on Haley deserve to be in capable and conscientious hands.

Haley also is one of only four centers designated to receive those most severely wounded from battle in Iraq and Afghanistan. If an outbreak of flies can shut down the operating room, what does that say about Haley's capability to treat soldiers with multiple injuries - bomb blasts to the head and spine? Congress should keep an eye on Haley and insist on progress reports.

[Last modified January 5, 2007, 22:33:58]