HAMPTON, Va. — Following months of turmoil at the Hampton Veterans Affairs Medical Center (HVAMC), Sen. Mark Warner (D-Virginia) said veterans and their families deserve better.
The center's Executive Director, Chief of Staff, and Chief of Surgery were reassigned in July, as the VA Office of Inspector General found "widespread failures and deficiencies related to facility leaders' responses to clinical care concerns and subsequent privileging actions."
In April, members of the House Veterans Affairs Committee alleged "gross medical incompetence" and said there were "credible allegations" of retaliation being "commonplace" against VA employees who report patient safety concerns.
And, last September, a separate VA Inspector General investigation found "multiple failures" in the case of a patient with prostate problems and that the center did not inform him of his health status.
"Our veterans deserve the kind of quality of care that they were promised when they joined the military," said Warner in an interview with 13News Now.
Warner said he plans to keep the pressure on.
"I've felt a number of times that we were turning the corner at the Hampton VA. This most recent director, who I liked, I was very disappointed to see the IG reports come out. End of the day, all I can tell you is I'm going to be back there this fall, asking for an update, seeing the new team," he said.
Warner noted that one thing that should help is the new 196,000-square-foot VA Chesapeake Health Care Center, scheduled to open in early January 2025.
Meanwhile, the former Director of the VA Medical Center in Long Beach, California — Walt Danneberg — took over as Acting Director of the Hampton VA Medical Center on August 5.
In July, following the HVAMC staff shake-up, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) said: "New leadership was needed. I mean, I was there last week, and I was asking about this forthcoming report. Obviously, I didn't know what was going to be in it. I wanted to see that, and I shared it. But the degree of concerns suggests that these leadership changes are necessary."
Additionally, Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-Virginia, 2nd District) told 13News Now at the time that the leadership change is "a step in the right direction."