IMMEDIATE RELEASE Press Release	May 15, 2014	No. 14-7   Contact: Mokie Porter 301-585-4000, Ext. 146
VVA Calls for Oversight and Thorough Review of VA Hospital Managers and Administrative Staff
(Washington, D.C.)—"Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) is pleased to learn that President Obama is assigning White House Deputy Chief of Staff Rob Nabors to oversee the review of the beleaguered Veterans Affairs Department as the agency grapples with allegations of treatment delays and preventable deaths at the Phoenix VA hospital," said VVA National President John Rowan.  "Yet, we are still shy of our objective of real accountability in the management of the Veterans Health Administration," Rowan noted. "If any reforms are to truly succeed, there must be better oversight of and by managers who are paid very well to administer a system that is, in part, all too obviously dysfunctional. Therefore, VVA also calls for a thorough review of all VISN hospital administrative staff positions whose responsibilities do not directly involve the provision of clinical services. It is our considered opinion that way too many VISN administrative staff can best be characterized as 'administrative overhead.' "   To read VVA's Congressional testimony before the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee regarding the State of VA Healthcare, delivered May 15, by Rick Weidman, VVA Executive Director of Policy & Government Affairs: http://www.vva.org/testimony/2014/051514.pdf To view today's Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing on the State of VA Health Care: http://www.c-span.org/video/?319302-1/veterans-affairs-hospital-delays
Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) is the nation's only congressionally chartered veterans service organization dedicated to the needs of Vietnam-era veterans and their families.  VVA's founding principle is “Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another.”