<\/p>\n
PHOENIX (AP) \u00e2\u20ac\u201d President Barack Obama is making a first-time visit to the Arizona veterans\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 hospital that triggered a national examination into how the government cares for its former service members to get an appraisal on the health system\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s progress and its lingering needs.<\/p>\n
Obama will travel to Phoenix on Friday to draw attention to the Veterans Affairs Department response to widespread mismanagement where VA workers falsified waiting lists to conceal chronic delays in care.<\/p>\n
The visit comes amid questions from lawmakers who say veterans are still not benefiting from changes in the law that were meant to improve their access to care. A month ago, Obama drew criticism for traveling to Phoenix without stopping at the VA hospital.<\/p>\n
Obama, joined by the new VA secretary, Robert McDonald, is expected to meet with veterans, VA employees, veterans\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 groups and elected officials, including Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake, the two Republican senators from Arizona. McCain has been especially critical of the administration\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s response to the VA\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s troubles.<\/p>\n
The White House defended the VA\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s actions to correct problems.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Long after it fades from the headlines, this is something a lot of people have been working on and that he president feels strongly about,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d White House spokesman Eric Schultz said.<\/p>\n
Friday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s visit comes at the end of a two-day West Coast trip by Obama. He was in Los Angeles on Thursday attending a Democratic Party fundraiser and taping an appearance on ABC\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s late-night show \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Jimmy Kimmel Live.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
The Phoenix VA Medical Center prompted the scrutiny last year following reports that dozens of veterans died while awaiting treatment at the hospital. The ensuing scandal prompted the ouster of VA Secretary Eric Shinseki. The agency\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Phoenix director, Sharon Helman, also lost her job.<\/p>\n
A series of government reports said workers throughout the country falsified wait lists while supervisors looked the other way. While veterans encountered chronic delays, the reports found managers who falsely appeared to meet on-time goals received bonuses.<\/p>\n
An administrative judge concluded Helman was not at fault over delays in care and secret waiting lists, but determined the agency was justified in firing her because she accepted improper gifts from a health care organization.<\/p>\n
The Phoenix office brought a respected former director out of retirement to take controls of the office for a one-year assignment. Glen Grippen told an Arizona legislative panel this week that the Phoenix office has hired 320 new staff since January 2014, is opening three new Phoenix-area clinics and is preparing to remodel its main Phoenix hospital.<\/p>\n
The doctor who sounded the alarm on problems with the Phoenix VA and helped bring about the changes said he is still frustrated about what he sees as a slow pace in reforms being carried out. He said McDonald has a nearly impossible job.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153If I ask you to go out and lift a 10,000-pound boulder and you go out and give it your best and can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do it, does that make you a bad guy? No. The boulder was just too big for anyone to lift,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Dr. Sam Foote told The Associated Press on Thursday. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s somewhat of the situation that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re in.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Foote retired from the VA before bringing the allegations to light.<\/p>\n
Congress approved a sweeping law last year to overhaul the VA and appropriated money to make it easier for veterans to get VA-paid private health care. It also limits the time VA employees have to appeal firings for alleged wrongdoing.<\/p>\n
Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., chairman of the House Veterans\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Affairs Committee, complained Thursday that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the vast majority of this money remains unspent and the expanded accountability authority has rarely been used.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
Kuhnhenn reported from Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
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