VA Report: 1.7K Vets Left Off Hospital Waiting List

McCain calls for Shinseki ouster following damning report
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted May 28, 2014 1:50 PM CDT
VA Report: 1.7K Vets Left Off Hospital Waiting List
The Phoenix VA Health Care Center in Phoenix.   (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

At least 1,700 veterans awaiting treatment from the Department of Veteran Affairs' now-infamous Phoenix medical center were kept off of any official waiting list, putting them "at risk of being forgotten or lost," according to a damning initial report from the department's inspector general. What's more, the patients the IG surveyed waited an average 115 days for a first primary care appointment—a far cry from the 24 days the center reported to the VA, the New York Times reports.

The investigation also found "numerous allegations" of "mismanagement, inappropriate hiring decisions, sexual harassment, and bullying behavior by mid- and senior-level managers." The report doesn't touch on allegations that as many as 40 deaths were tied to waiting list shenanigans. On CNN, John McCain responded to the report by calling on the Justice Department to launch its own probe. "I haven't said this before, but I think it's time for General Shinseki to move on," he added. (The Army fired the head of the Womack medical facility after the deaths of two patients in their 20s.)

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