U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) sought answers on Tuesday following the release of a report that found that Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) patients in Iowa had been assigned to “ghost panels.”
A report by the VA Office of Inspector General found that the Iowa City VA had assigned patients to primary care providers no longer employed by the VA, otherwise known as “ghost panels,” in violation of Veterans Health Administration policy.
Ernst sought answers in letters to Iowa City VA Healthcare Systems Director Judith Johnson-Mekota and VA Midwest Healthcare Network Director Janet Murphy.
“I cannot emphasize enough how upsetting it is that of the many primary care providers in the VISN 23 region, the Iowa City VA HCS would participate in the abhorrent practice of ‘ghost panels,’” Ernst wrote. “While the report does not say that any of the 1,245 veterans were denied timely care, this raises red flags that they may have been placed outside of the system that allows for accurate and honest measures of wait times.”
Ernst requested a “concrete plan of action” that outlines how and when the 1,245 veterans would be re-assigned and re-distributed to primary care providers.
“These veterans deserve to know whether they were assigned to primary care providers who do not even work at the VA, and I request that these servicemembers be notified immediately of their status of care,” Ernst wrote.