VA Fires Another Senior Exec

The Veterans Affairs Department has fired another senior executive.

Sharon Helman, the director of the Phoenix VA health care system, was the career official at the center of the scandal involving data manipulation and excessive wait times for patients seeking care. Helman was “formally removed” from federal service, the department announced on Monday. “This decision followed an investigation by the VA Office of Inspector General, in which allegations of lack of oversight and other misconduct were substantiated,” VA stated. “This removal action underscores VA’s commitment to hold leaders accountable and ensure that veterans have access to quality and timely care.”

Helman had been on paid administrative leave since May. Glenn Grippen, a retired VA administrator, will serve as interim director of the Phoenix health care system while the department looks to name a permanent replacement for Helman “as quickly as possible.” VA employees blew the whistle this past spring on secret lists for scheduling patients, which showed much longer wait times for appointments than the official record indicated. At least 40 vets at the Phoenix facility died while waiting for care. The mismanagement and cover-up sparked the largest reorganization in the VA’s history.

“Lack of oversight and misconduct by VA leaders runs counter to our mission of serving veterans, and VA will not tolerate it,” said Secretary Bob McDonald, in the statement announcing Helman’s removal. “We depend on VA employees and leaders to put the needs of veterans first, and honor VA’s core values of ‘Integrity, Commitment, Advocacy, Respect and Excellence.’ ”

House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller, R-Fla., also weighed in on VA’s decision to fire Helman. “VA will never regain the trust of America’s veterans and American taxpayers until all of the corrupt senior executives who created the biggest scandal in the department’s history are held accountable to the maximum extent under the law,” he said. “Sharon Helman's removal is a positive step, but there are still many more VA scandal figures who also must be purged from the department's payroll in order for veterans and families to receive the closure they deserve.” Miller was one of the architects of the new law that took effect in August making it easier to fire VA senior executives.

The new law allows the department to fire and demote Senior Executive Service employees immediately, with paychecks getting cut off the day of the termination. The affected executive would then have seven days to issue an appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board, which in turn would have 21 days for an expedited adjudication. MSPB’s ruling would be final. However, the department currently is giving affected employees five days’ notice of removal, which some Republicans at a recent House Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing said amounts to another appeals period.

In addition to Helman, the VA has fired Terry Gerigk Wolf and James Talton since the law’s passage. Wolf, who served as director of the VA’s Pittsburgh Healthcare System for seven years, was removed for “conduct unbecoming of a senior executive and wasteful spending.” Six veterans died and 16 others became ill from an outbreak in 2011 and 2012 of Legionnaires’ disease in Pittsburgh. Talton, whose removal was just upheld by MSPB on appeal, served as director of VA’s healthcare system in Central Alabama.

Talton was fired for failing to take disciplinary action against employees involved in misconduct -- including one who drove a patient who was a recovering drug addict to a crack house for drugs and sex -- as well as failing to ensure patients received timely access to care.

Two other senior executives the VA targeted for removal retired before they could be fired. Miller plans to introduce legislation soon that would prevent senior executives about to be fired from instead retiring with full benefits. Under the bill, which is still in draft form, the VA secretary would be allowed to take away the government contribution portion of the pension for the time period in which the employee was engaged in behavior warranting removal. The rest would be returned to the employee in a lump sum.

Several lawmakers and other observers and stakeholders have criticized the department for dragging its feet to fire employees involved in the VA scandal related to data manipulation and excessive delays in scheduling doctors’ appointments for veterans. McDonald and other VA officials have said they must adhere to the rules surrounding disciplinary action against federal employees to comply with due process but also want to ensure the department’s decision is upheld on appeal.

Separately, the VA just made another important announcement: a request for proposals from contractors for a new medical appointment scheduling system. Proposals are due Jan. 9, and VA expects to award the contract by spring 2015. The new software will replace a 30-year-old “legacy” scheduling system.

“We are seeking vendors who will work closely with us and can meet our timeline,” said VA Chief Information Officer Stephen Warren, in a statement. “We are dedicated to finding the right partner to help us create and implement our modern scheduling system.”