Reckoning at Hampton VA hospital after 'widespread failures and deficiencies'

(The Center Square) — The executive director, chief of staff and chief of surgery at the Hampton VA Medical Center are all leaving after investigations revealed substandard care and potentially willful negligence.

Their exodus stems from congressional investigations and a Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General report. The OIG began its latest probe into the hospital (there have been others) after learning of six instances of substandard care by the hospital’s assistant chief of surgery and spotting implications of a lack of internal reporting, oversight and accountability.

U.S. House Rep. Jen Kiggans, a veteran and nurse, has launched investigations into the center as chairwoman of the veterans’ affairs oversight subcommittee. She released a statement on the leadership changes Friday, after sounding the alarm on the facility for months.

“The announcement regarding the change in leadership at the Hampton VAMC is a step in the right direction but long overdue," Kiggans said. “While I am pleased to see the VA finally taking a closer look at those in charge in an effort to ensure that policies and procedures are being strictly adhered to at the hospital, there is still more work that needs to be done and changes that need to be made.”

Kiggans said she had received complaints about “patient safety, staffing shortages, denial of care, unsanitary exam rooms, whistleblower retaliation, and more.”

The Department of Veterans Affairs has reassigned the center’s executive director, Taquisha Simmons, to the Office of Social Work Services at the Veterans Health Administration, and according to a press release from Kiggans office, the chiefs of staff and surgery will also be replaced.

Though all three were aware the assistant chief of surgery had delivered substandard care to several patients, his errors weren’t recorded in his file nor adequately reported to the Medical Executive Committee or the state licensing board. They didn’t adequately inform the assistant chief of the issues or a reduction in his surgery privileges, leading to a restoration of those privileges before he transferred to another VA facility, according to the report.

The OIG also found that “nine of 10 facility-wide institutional disclosures” from 2022 to 2023 “did not include ‘advisement about potential compensation.’”

In almost every instance of failure – which also involved risk managers, the Veterans Integrated Services Network chief medical officer, and others besides the three being replaced – the parties involved shifted blame, according to the report. Often, they claimed ignorance or improper guidance or training. In some instances, they said they completed a task that the OIG could never verify.