Shinseki departure from VA sparks relief, new worries from Nevadans

Southern Nevada veterans advocates offered a sigh of relief but with some dis­appointment in reacting to Friday’s resignation of embattled Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, whom Nevada lawmakers described as an overwhelmed but dedicated public servant.

Veteran leaders in Las Vegas said they are hopeful for reform of the cumbersome bureaucracy that’s at the root of scandals involving long waits for health care that a preliminary inspector general report found is spread across the agency’s health care facilities. But they wonder how long it will take for positive and effective change.

Richard Small, commander of the Military Order of the Purple Heart for the Southwest region that includes Nevada, three neighboring states, Hawaii and Guam, said “it’s too bad,” Shinseki stepped down because “whoever comes next is going to take a year to get up to speed.”

“I believe Shinseki truly had what was best for veterans in his heart,” Small said. “The problem was the bureaucracy of the VA. Many of them were only interested in their own personal advancement. That’s how the thing got so widespread.”

He said the VA administrative culture “has to be changed from the bottom up.”

“The whole system is riddled with people who have risen beyond their level of competence. Once someone is in for six months it’s hard to get rid of them,” said Small, who is also president of the local Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 17 and was an Army doctor in Vietnam and Japan during the Vietnam War.

Bill Anton, commander of the Disabled American Veterans Department of Nevada, said Shinseki’s resignation “was required.”

“It is important that we get a new VA Secretary that will continue to take care of our Veterans and wipe out the last vestiges of apathy and violation of the laws of the VA and our nation. Our Veterans deserve only the best,” Anton wrote in an email.

Members of Nevada’s congressional delegation said Shinseki was a dedicated former military officer and public servant who in the end was overcome by long-standing problems at the massive and troubled agency.

They delivered a mixed assessment of the Cabinet officer: Shinseki should be credited with advancements in benefits for veterans but appeared unable to get his arms around a health care scandal that investigators said had become “systemic” among its medical centers.

“Under his leadership, the VA has decreased homelessness among veterans, expanded services for women and veterans exposed to Agent Orange, dramatically reduced the benefits backlog, and improved mental health care for veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder,” said Democrat Rep. Dina Titus, who sits on the House Veterans Affairs Committee. “Sadly, these achievements have become overshadowed by the grievous failures in management and patient care within the VA system.”

Democratic Sen. Harry Reid defended Shinseki, saying the general was an “American patriot” who inherited endemic problems.

Reid, the Senate majority leader, said he talked to Shinseki on Friday morning and he accepted the fact the general resigned after Democrats and Republicans called for him to step down and for new leadership to fix the troubled VA.

Reid suggested the problems shouldn’t be laid on Shinseki, who said he planned as one of his last acts on the job to halt bonuses paid to VA supervisors rewarded for purportedly trimming wait list times.

“He really is an American patriot,” Reid said of Shinseki in a news conference after meeting with student leaders at UNLV. “General Shinseki was a decorated combat veteran of Vietnam. ... I hate to see him go, but I expect him to be a team player.”

Reid said the White House had asked him to submit names to consider to eventually take over the top VA job and he planned to do so.

The Senate majority leader said the VA has been overwhelmed by millions of new returning veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan while also taking care of aging veterans from previous wars.

He said this has led to a VA health care system that doesn’t have enough resources to handle all the new patients, including severely disabled veterans with missing limbs and other issues.

“The problems with the VA are endemic,” Reid said. “The VA is overwhelmed with these new veterans. ... The problem is not going to be solved in a matter of a month or two.”

A homeless veteran in Las Vegas, however, said he thinks Shinseki failed in his leadership and ultimately is responsible for his personal case of redundant appointment cancellations that he says exacerbated his health problems.

“I’m glad he did (resign.) It’s his responsibility,” said Robert Maccarillo, 72, a Vietnam-era Air Force veteran. “He had to know what was going on. He’s not stupid.”

President Barack Obama said he accepted Shinseki’s resignation at a White House meeting on Friday. As a growing number of senators and House members were calling for him to quit or be fired, Shinseki believed he would be a dis­traction as the VA sought to fix problems.

“I agree,” Obama said. “We don’t have time for distractions. We need to fix the problem.”

Sloan D. Gibson, a Shinseki deputy, 1975 West Point graduate, and former president and CEO of the USO, was named to take over the agency temporarily until a new Cabinet secretary is appointed.

Martin Dean Dupalo, a former Air Force officer and university political science instructor, said he has doubts about Shinseki’s acting replacement.

“With such a widespread malaise facing the system and such high stakes — literally veterans’ lives — it will be interesting to see if Sloan Gibson, who is primarily a banker, who was the head of a large, mostly voluntary non­profit, and has no health care background, can make any much needed progress,” Dupalo said.

“Perhaps it would be beneficial to enlist some long-standing critics with health care experience and a reputation for strong reforms,” he said. “Waiting another 90-plus days for an important appointment is no longer an option nor should it ever have been.”

Republican Sen. Dean Heller, a member of the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs who had called on Shinseki to resign, applauded his service as a soldier and public official.

“However as the VA has continued to operate on a 1940s system in the 21st century, problems plaguing the department are far too serious to ignore,” Heller said.

Rep. Joe Heck, R-Nev., said Shinseki’s departure might not make a difference.

“Removing Shinseki will not solve the bureaucratic problems at the VA,” Heck said. “The issues are long-standing, more deeply rooted and much broader than just one person.”

Rep. Steve Horsford, D-Nev., said lawmakers and veterans will expect to see results soon from the VA.

“There will be no grace period for the new acting VA secretary,” he said. “Despite the announcement of VA Secretary Shinseki’s resignation today, we need to immediately focus on solutions that reduce wait times and ensure access to health care for our veterans.”

Horsford had expressed frustration that the VA under Shinseki had failed to complete the approvals for a veterans outreach clinic in Pahrump. He said he planned to renew his push for the clinic, and also for service improvements at the Southern Nevada Medical Center, where an audit earlier this month revealed the emergency department was failing to meet standards for timely care of patients.

“I will demand that the VA hospital in North Las Vegas perform at a level that our veterans expect and deserve,” he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact Laura Myers at lmyers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919. Find her on Twitter: @lmyerslvrj. Contact Keith Rogers at krogers@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0308. Find him on Twitter: @KeithRogers2. Contact Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at STetreault@stephensmedia.com or 202-783-1760. Find him on Twitter: @STetreaultDC.