The chief inspector for the Department of Veterans Affairs said Wednesday he has no timeline to complete investigations of scheduling practices at the North Las Vegas VA hospital and dozens of others nationwide.
Health
The Obama administration is preparing to assign 3,000 U.S. military personnel to West Africa to combat the Ebola crisis that has overwhelmed local health care systems and drawn appeals for help from the region and aid organizations.
An increasing number of wounded war vets is pushing military medicine to find better ways to accommodate such a large population of young, severely disabled combat veterans who want to maintain an active lifestyle.
A top federal investigator said Monday that the Department of Veterans Affairs is risking patients’ health by not fully addressing whistleblower complaints about the quality of care. The VA’s acting director responded by launching an agency review.
U.S. Rep. Joe Heck of Nevada is preparing a bill to cut red tape that hinders doctors at Nellis Air Force Base from treating veterans needing specialized care not available from the VA hospital in North Las Vegas.
Congress is moving with what one senator called “lightning speed” to help thousands of military veterans enduring long wait times for VA medical care. The Senate was poised to vote by Thursday to let veterans go to local doctors and have the VA foot the bill.
U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford says the North Las Vegas Veterans Administration hospital will go from three benefits claim processors to 23 to help cut backlogs.
As scandals swirl around the Department of Veterans Affairs and investigators look for evidence of cover-ups and cooking the books at 26 VA medical facilities nationwide, morale has slumped in one office at the North Las Vegas VA Medical Center. Quarrels involving a North Las Vegas VA Medical Center staff member and volunteers with the Voluntary Services chief have erupted into profanity-laced exchanges, physical threats and allegations of fudging donation reports.
More veterans are being allowed to obtain health care at private hospitals and clinics in an effort to improve their treatment following allegations of falsified records and delays in treatment.
The Southern Nevada branch of the Department of Veterans Affairs says it does not believe it is a target of misconduct investigations taking place across the country, and lawmakers from Nevada say they have not been told otherwise.
Robert Petzel, the top official for veterans health care, resigned Friday amid a firestorm over reported delays in care and falsified records at veterans hospitals. VA Secretary Eric Shinseki accepted the resignation, but critics immediately called it an empty move.
An elderly blind veteran crying in pain spent four hours and 45 minutes in the emergency room of the VA Medical Center in North Las Vegas before seeing a doctor in October, but federal inspectors said in a report Wednesday that such long waits were not unusual for patients at the hospital.
The Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center will offer drive-up flu shots Saturday for veterans who are enrolled in the VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System and have a VA identification card.
A number of military personnel are turning to the surgical procedure to remove excess fat from around the waist so they can pass the Pentagon’s body fat test, which can determine their future prospects in the military.
Like most veterans who showed up for Tuesday’s opening of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in North Las Vegas, 75-year-old Tom Stacey was pleased with the service he received. The $1 billion VA Medical Center opened for limited services Tuesday on the first floor of the six-floor structure.
