At Meeting with VA Secretary, Durbin Announces November VA Hearing on Veterans Healthcare

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At Meeting with VA Secretary, Durbin Announces November VA Hearing on Veterans Healthcare

At today's meeting with the Acting Secretary of the Department of Veteran's Affairs, Gordon Mansfield, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin announced that the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs will convene a hearing in less than two weeks on hiring practices and quality control of patient care at VA medical facilities. The hearing has been scheduled for Tuesday, November 6, 2007 at 10:00am.

"I am concerned that Marion VA did not have the information they needed before hiring Dr. Viezaga-Mendez. More than that, I am concerned that this is indicative of a greater hiring issue at VA medical facilities across the country," said Durbin. "Acting Secretary Mansfield has assured me that the quality of care that our veterans receive is of the utmost importance and the ongoing investigations will help to shed light on any cracks that may exist within the system. I have asked the Senate Committee on Veteran's Affairs to hold a hearing in order to make sure that what happened in Marion does not happen again."

In today's meeting, Durbin pressed Mansfield for information regarding the progress of the ongoing investigation at the Marion facility. Acting Secretary Mansfield revealed that the investigation, originally looking into Dr. Viezaga-Mendez background, uncovered questions involving a second doctor's medical license in Idaho. Because the investigation is ongoing, Acting Secretary Mansfield declined to name the second doctor or comment further.
On August 31, the Department of Veterans Affairs suspended all inpatient surgeries at the Marion VA Medical Center due to an unusual increase in the mortality rate at the hospital. The VA Inspector General initiated an investigation when questions arose about a surgeon, Dr. Jose Veizaga-Mendez, who was allowed to practice medicine at the facility until August 2007 despite having to surrender his license in Massachusetts after numerous cases of malpractice. Four top hospital officials at Marion have also been reassigned until an Inspector General investigation is completed.

Senator Durbin has worked closely on this issue with Senator Barack Obama (D-IL). Last week they called on the Acting VA Secretary, Gordon Mansfield, to respond to new information that has come to light regarding patient safety and the quality of care at the Marion VA Medical Center. While asking follow-up questions to the response that they received from the VA, the Illinois Senators insisted that any concerns over health care quality at the facility must be addressed immediately.

The two senators originally sent two letters to the VA -- the first, looking into a spike in deaths at the VA Medical Center in Marion, Illinois. That letter was sent on September 17 to Secretary Nicholson asking for more information on the ongoing investigation. In the letter, they also sought assurances that the travel and scheduling needs of any veterans who must now be redirected to other facilities to receive their needed surgeries will be facilitated. The second letter to Secretary Nicholson was sent on September 24 asking specific questions about the VA's response to the increase in deaths at the center. They also asked why Dr. Veizaga-Mendez, who had been barred from practicing in another state, was allowed to continue to practice at the Marion VA Center until August.

On October 17, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) decided to indefinitely suspend the license of Dr. Jose Veizaga-Mendez who is being investigated in connection with a string of deaths at a VA hospital in Marion, IL.

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