US veterans chief Eric Shinseki quits amid healthcare row

BARACK Obama has announced the resignation of his veterans chief amid a growing scandal over healthcare for ex-soldiers.

Barack Obama speaks to the media at the White House after a meeting with his defence chief.

BARACK Obama has announced the resignation of his veterans chief amid a mushrooming scandal over appointment delays, falsified-record keeping and other problems plaguing the strained healthcare system for ex-soldiers.

The US president said yesterday that he accepted Eric Shinseki's resignation with “considerable regret” during a White House meeting, just two days after a scathing internal report found broad, deep-seated problems in the sprawling health care system, which is struggling to provide for all the veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Shinseki, a retired Japanese-American four-star general who had overseen the Department of Veterans Affairs since the start of Obama's presidency, had faced mounting calls to step down as the controversy ballooned into a major issue in Washington.

In the 36 hours that followed Wednesday’s findings, Democrats in tough congressional re-election races this November joined Republicans in clamouring for Shinseki's resignation.

Obama said Shinseki, a Vietnam War veteran and the highest-ranking Asian-American in US military history, had served with honour. But the Veterans Affairs secretary told the president the agency needed new leadership and that he did not want to be a distraction.

“I agree. We don't have time for distractions. We need to fix the problem,” Obama said.

Republicans in Congress said Shinseki's resignation alone was not enough to solve problems at an agency that has been struggling to keep up with a huge increase in demand for its services. Around nine million veterans are now enrolled in the healthcare system, roughly one million more than just six years ago. The influx comes from returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, ageing Vietnam War vets who now have more health problems, a move by Congress to expand the number of those eligible for care and the migration of veterans to the VA during the last recession after they lost their jobs.

Lawmakers on both sides have moved cautiously, sensitive about being seen as exploiting the plight of veterans for political gain. Still, Shinseki's departure seems unlikely to end an election-year political struggle between the parties.

The Republican leader of the House of Representatives, John Boehner, said the resignation “does not absolve the president of his responsibility to step in and make things right for our veterans.” He and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell called on Democrats to join them in legislation “that would help to fix this system that has so failed our veterans.”

In their report, agency investigators said that 1700 veterans seeking treatment at facility in the south-western city of Phoenix were consigned to limbo because they had never been added to official wait lists.

The VA has a goal of trying to give patients an appointment within 14 days of when they first seek care. Treatment delays — and irregularities in recording patient waiting times — have been documented in numerous reports from government and outside organisations for years and have been well-known to VA officials, member of Congress and veteran service organisations.

But the controversy now swirling around the VA stems from allegations that employees were keeping a secret waiting list at the Phoenix hospital, and suggestions that up to 40 patients may have died while awaiting care. A preliminary VA inspector general probe into the allegations found systemic falsification of appointment records in Arizona and other locations but has not made a determination on whether any deaths are related to the delays.

In a speech earlier on yesterday, Shinseki said that the findings of the report were “totally unacceptable” and a “breach of trust” that he found irresponsible and indefensible. He announced a series of steps, including the ousting of senior officials at the Phoenix facility.

“I can't explain the lack of integrity,” he told a homeless veterans group. “I will not defend it because it is not defensible.”

Obama said Sloan Gibson, the deputy VA secretary, would run the department on an interim basis while he searches for another secretary.

He said Shinseki had begun the process of firing people and had cancelled performance bonuses. The president said it would be up to the Justice Department to determine whether there was any criminal wrongdoing at the VA.