The Department of Veterans Affairs will replace Douglas Paxton, the director of Roseburg (Ore.) Veterans Administration Medical Center, after he came under fire in January for allegedly restricting the number of patients the center admitted to improve its performance rating, reports The New York Times.
Here are six things to know.
1. The Roseburg VA hospital is a rural hospital that once ranked near the bottom of the VA health system. Under Mr. Paxton's leadership, the hospital saw its rating rapidly improve. However, physicians at the VA medical center said the rating improvement was driven by strategic tweaks to healthcare practices, even if it left patients worse off.
2. One of these strategic tweaks was to turn away patients, against physicians' wishes, because fewer patients equated to fewer poor outcomes.
3. Physicians told The Times staff members complained for more than a year about the practices the VA medical center employed to improve quality scores.
4. When reports of the manipulation first surfaced, the department initially denied the allegations and Mr. Paxton called the reports "fake news." However, more and more medical center employees came forward with more complaints last month.
5. Mr. Paxton will be replaced as medical director as the investigation continues. He will be reassigned as assistant director of the veterans hospital in Huntington, W. Va. However, if the pending investigation finds Mr. Paxton responsible, he may be fired.
"There are times that facility leadership needs to change in order to usher in a new approach that will demonstrate we are committed to delivering results for veterans," said Carolyn Clancy, MD, executive in charge of the Veterans Health Administration, according to The Times.
6. Dinesh Ranjan, MD, chief of surgery at the Roseburg VA hospital, was also removed this week. He helped oversee hospital admissions.