Duff retiring as VA hospital chief; handled stormy times

Isabel Duff, whose reign of Veterans Affairs health care facilities in Southern Nevada spanned a stormy period when veterans complained of long waits blamed on a doctor shortage, prolific patient loads and delays in reconstructing the hospital’s emergency room, will retire May 1.

The staff at the North Las Vegas VA Medical Center received a memo late Friday from Acting Director Bill Caron announcing her departure following a 20-month stint that began in September 2013, when she transferred from the VA health care system in Long Beach, Calif., to replace John Bright, who had retired.

“Her contributions … have been extensive including the successful opening of inpatients units of the medical center, 24/7 ancillary services, Women’s Health Center, Laughlin Rural Health Clinic and planning for the Fisher House,” Caron’s memo reads.

VA spokesman Rich Beam said he hadn’t spoken to Duff about her retirement and couldn’t offer “any perspective on the circumstances, but given she has put in 35 years it’s not uncommon.”

He said Caron will be acting director while a recruitment process is underway to replace Duff.

Bright had opened the long-awaited VA Medical Center complex in August 2012 that cost $1 billion to build and staff. When Duff took over, the complex and surrounding clinics encountered a shortage of doctors and medical professionals. Many had left the VA as the number of veterans using Southern Nevada facilities swelled to 55,000 out of some 300,000 who live in the state.

Staffing problems increased at a time when news of scandals surfaced about false reporting of wait times, lack of accountability and bonuses being awarded to administrators at VA facilities across the nation. Former VA Secretary Eric Shinseki resigned amid the debacle in May and President Barack Obama appointed Robert McDonald, who vowed to reform the VA and hold its staff and administrators accountable.

Documents released by the House Veterans Affairs Committee in July about hundreds of VA executives who received bonuses show Duff was awarded one for $8,680 for service performed in 2013.

While she has been the director of the VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System, the opening of the medical center’s “community living center,” a rehabilitation and hospice facility, has been delayed to the summer of 2016 while staff has been using the rooms for offices until an administration building is completed later this year.

About a month after Duff became director, Sandi Niccum, a blind Navy veteran, endured a long painful wait for emergency treatment of a colon disorder on Oct. 22, 2013. She died Nov. 15, 2013, at a hospice.

Complaints about the ordeal from Niccum’s neighbor who was with her and a caregiver, and concerns about deletion of video surveillance recordings led to an inspector general’s VA health care inspection that found Niccum’s wait time “was challenging for this patient” but there were other patients in more urgent need at the time.

Since then construction has been ongoing to expand the emergency department with completion expected in the spring of 2016.

With bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nursing from the University of Arizona, Duff has served in many positions at VA medical centers including Salt Lake City, Tampa, Fla., Prescott, Ariz., and Livermore, Calif. She had been the director of the VA Long Beach Healthcare System since 2008 before transferring to Southern Nevada in 2013.

Contact Keith Rogers at krogers@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0308. Find him on Twitter: @KeithRogers2.