Substandard Care Tied to 19 Deaths at VA Hospital

Jan 29, 07:12 AM

By Jim Suhr

The Associated Press

ST. LOUIS

Substandard care at a southern Illinois Veterans Affairs hospital may have contributed to 19 deaths over the past two years, a VA official said Monday as he apologized to affected families and pledged reform .

The hospital in Marion, Ill., initially drew scrutiny over deaths connected to a single surgeon, but two federal reports found fault with five other doctors.

The hospital undertook many surgeries that its staffing or lack of proper surgical expertise made it ill-equipped to handle, and hospital administrators were too slow to respond once problems surfaced, said Dr. Michael Kussman, U.S. veterans affairs undersecretary for health.

"I can't tell you how angry we all are and how frustrated we all are ," Kussman told reporters during a conference call after releasing findings of the VA's investigation and summarizing a separate inspector general's investigation . "Nothing angers me more than when we don't do the right thing."

Still, Kussman insisted, "what happened in Marion is an exception to what otherwise is a truly quality health-care system" across the VA.

The VA will help affected families file administrative claims under the VA's disability compensation program, he said. Families also could sue.

The VA investigation found that at least nine deaths between October 2006 and March last year were "directly attributable" to substandard care at the Marion hospital, which serves veterans from southern Illinois, southwestern Indiana and western Kentucky.

Kussman declined to identify those cases by patient or doctor, though Rep. Jerry Costello, an Illinois Democrat, said those nine deaths were linked to two surgeons he did not name.

Of an additional 34 cases the VA investigated, 10 patients who died received questionable care that complicated their health, Kussman said. Investigators could not determine whether the care actually caused the deaths.

Inpatient surgeries have not been performed at the facility since problems first became public last August. They will remain suspended indefinitely, Kussman said.

In pledging reforms, Kussman said the VA has launched an administrative investigatory board to review care problems and matters raised by employee groups.

The VA last September also installed interim administrators to replace the Marion VA's director, chief of staff, chief of surgery and an anesthesiologist, moving them to other positions or placing them on leave, Kussman said. The anesthesiologist has since quit, Kussman said.

(c) 2008 Virginian - Pilot. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved. Substandard Care Tied to 19 Deaths at VA Hospital
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