Charlie Dent
U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA) voiced confidence in the ability of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) to further improve veterans’ care last week during a subcommittee hearing.
Dent, the chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies, convened the subcommittee’s second budget hearing to explore oversight and accountability topics.
“Regrettably, our nation’s veterans have endured a VA that has been riddled with an unacceptable number of questionable management decisions and scandals over the last few years,” Dent said. “The VA OIG has played a critical role in bringing service shortcomings to light through their thorough and nonpartisan audits and investigations.”
Since a nationwide scandal on patient wait times in 2014, the VA OIG has identified other problems with VHA managing access to health care. An audit by the OIG from March 2 found that Veterans Integrated Service Network 6 did not consistently provide timely access to health care for new patients at its VA medical facilities and through the Veterans Choice Program in fiscal year 2016. It also did not have accurate wait time data.
Dent heard testimony from VA Inspector General Michael Missal about efforts to provide accountability and oversight for VA operations like health care services and operations, financial management, information technology and security.
“I remain confident that Inspector General Missal and his team at the VA OIG will continue their work to preserve our veterans’ trust, increase transparency, and drive further improvements across the VA,” Dent said. “This subcommittee plays an important oversight role to ensure that the VA is meeting the needs of our veterans and their loved ones and that taxpayer dollars are being managed responsibly and efficiently, and the VA OIG’s reports and findings are a valued resource in that effort.”
Missal testified of the need to hold VA employees to high standards. He also highlighted efforts to reduce wait times, to update the VA’s outdated IT infrastructure and to improve the suicide prevention Veterans Crisis Line.
“VA is a massive and decentralized enterprise with significant vulnerabilities to fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement in its programs and operations; the consequences of which can have a dramatic effect on veterans and taxpayers,” Missal testified.
“Regardless of hiring restrictions, the OIG must be positioned to provide effective oversight especially in the high-risk areas related to patient care provided by VA and community providers,” Missal added.
Dent said he would continue to work with Missal as the subcommittee develops its fiscal year 2018 appropriations bill.