The filings were presented before a federal administrative board during hospital director Sharon Helman’s case challenging her termination. Documents included a sworn statement from Susan Bowers, former director of VA Southwest Health Care Network.
In the statement, Ms. Bowers warned officials in Washington of problems at the Phoenix hospital. She said audits of the hospital showed it was not compliant with requirements for official electronic patient waiting lists, as no waiting list existed. A previous hospital director before Ms. Helman reported compliance, Ms. Bowers said, according to the report.
Ms. Bowers claims she was pressured to report compliance, according to the report. She also said she regularly briefed VA officials in Washington since 2009 on patient backlog, clinical space issues and scheduling problems in Phoenix, but improvements were delayed due to lack of funding.
Ms. Bowers’ statement provides more information on the Phoenix hospital’s wait-list scandal. An investigation earlier this year revealed 1,700 patients may never have received medical care because they were kept off the official wait list, according to the report.
Ms. Bowers retired early in May this year when the scandal began to unfold.
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