The hearing came after a report released April 7 identified details in the cases of 76 patients, the 23 dead among them, to whom the VA provided care that had the potential to result in serious injury or death.
Sign up for our FREE E-Weekly for more coverage like this sent to your inbox!
Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) expressed frustration with the release time of the April 7 report, saying his committee had been asking for details on the deaths and harms for months.
The handling of the 4,000-patient backlog that caused six fatalities at Columbia, S.C.-based William Jennings Bryan Dorn VA Medical Center, was among the issues addressed during the hearing. The hospital was awarded $1 million to handle the problem; however, only one-fifth of the sum was ever used for the task. It is unclear how the remaining $800,000 was spent.
Whether or not any VA staff members had been fired over the problem was a question VA representatives continued to sidestep, according to the report.
More Articles on Infection Control & Clinical Quality:
Kairos Wins Federal Contract to Develop Quality Report Cards for Providers
Oxygen Tank Explosion at Princeton Plainsboro Seriously Injures 1 Employee
