U.S. Rep. Patrick Meehan (R-PA) responded on Wednesday to an inspector general’s (IG) report from an investigation into the Philadelphia Department of Veterans’ Affairs Regional Office.
“The draft IG report is a stunning rebuke of the VA’s leadership, both in Washington and at the Philadelphia Regional Office,” Meehan said of the report, which said “shoddy record-keeping, bungled claims, inadequate security and poor working conditions” were discovered.
“The report due out in the next few days will confirm what has been revealed over the last year, that the Philadelphia VA Regional Office is letting our veterans and their families down through a combination of incompetence and negligence,” Meehan said.
VA Deputy Inspector General Richard Griffin testified in a congressional hearing last week, during which he listed numerous failures by the Philadelphia facility and referred to its overall status as “very bad.”
“The comments by the IG in (the recent) hearing are striking,” Meehan said last week. “This is just the latest sign of the deep dysfunction within the Philadelphia VA, and it seems that the IG report will confirm our worst fears about the activities going on there. I’m looking forward to receiving the IG report in the next two weeks – as well as a full accounting by the VA of the steps it has taken to address the issues raised.”
Meehan also said, in Wednesday’s statement, “Since allegations of impropriety emerged last year, the VA has been uncooperative and unresponsive. That must stop. Secretary McDonald must hold those responsible accountable and take corrective action. Enough is enough.”