Dayton Daily News - VA's Actions 'Evasive,' Turner Says

News Article

By Lou Grieco

U.S. Rep. Mike Turner on Saturday accused the Department of Veterans Affairs of stonewalling him by denying access to Guy Richardson, the former director of the Dayton VA Medical Center.

In a statement released to the media, Turner called the VA's actions "highly evasive and obstructionist."

But a VA spokesman said Richardson was never to be at the meeting.

Turner, R-Centerville, and Rep. Jeff Miller, the chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, will be at the Dayton VA Medical Center on Monday for a meeting about unsanitary conditions at the hospital's dental clinic. Turner said he expected Richardson to be at the meeting.

On Friday, the department transferred Richardson to the Veterans Integrated Services Network offices in Cincinnati, effective Monday. That same day, Turner condemned the department for giving Richardson a "promotion," and the VA countered that it wasn't a promotion and that Richardson's pay won't change.

"The VA's effort to stonewall Congressman Turner and the chairman of the committee with oversight and investigative jurisdiction of the VA shows that the truth remains to be uncovered," Turner's statement said.

Turner also included a letter he sent to Eric K. Shinseki, the secretary of Veterans Affairs. VA Press Secretary Drew Brookie said that the VA had been in discussions with Turner's office, but a meeting with Richardson "was never a component of (the) VA's proposal for this visit and was never scheduled or agreed to."

William Schoenhard, VA's Deputy Under Secretary for Health for Operations and Management, Acting Dayton VA Medical Center Director William D. Montague will both be at the meeting, Brookie said.

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