NC senators say independent report “confirms sad news” about shortcomings of Fayetteville VA Medical Center

U.S. Sens. Richard Burr (R-NC) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) reacted on Monday to a recent report that cited shortcomings at a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical center in North Carolina.

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) report on surgical services at the Fayetteville VA Medical Center found that some patients had not been properly evaluated prior to surgery and that deaths occurring within 30 days of surgery were not reviewed, as required, prior to September 2014.

“(Monday’s) report confirms the sad news that many of our veterans are still receiving inadequate care at VA facilities,” Burr said. “Some patient deaths that occurred within 30 days of surgery at the Fayetteville VA facility were not reported or reviewed as required. Some veterans were not fully evaluated prior to surgery causing preventable delays and cancelations. Another procedure was stopped after surgery had begun because of a lack of instruments. That surgery was later completed at a community hospital.”

Veterans must have greater access to quality health care where they live, when they need it, Burr added.

“(Monday’s) report affirms once again that many VA facilities still fall woefully short,” Burr said. “This is unacceptable. Our nation’s veterans expect and deserve better than this — that’s why I introduced the Veterans Choice Improvement Act and why I’m going to keep fighting to enact it. We have a duty to support and protect our veterans, and I’m going to continue to do everything I can to ensure that our veterans are being taken care of.”

Tillis said that changes in senior staff at Fayetteville VA Medical Center led to improvement in some patient services, but added that it is “disturbing” that the OIG had to remind the facility that patients must be evaluated before and after surgery.

“Taking care of those who bore the battle is the most solemn duty of the United States government and it is troubling that any hospital has to be reminded to have adequate pre-operative evaluations and sufficient equipment on hand to perform surgeries,” Tillis said. “It should not take an outside agency to remind any caregiver of those basic medical practices.”

The OIG recommended implementing procedures to ensure that medicine and anesthesia providers evaluate patients before and after surgery, to ensure that peer reviews are conducted, and to establish that procedures to ensure surgical supplies, equipment and instruments are available.