Ive been saying this for years...and in my recent fight with the VA....these employees are liars and are taught to lie! Probe finds Fort Collins VA Staff taught to Falsify Records May 7, 2014 by Benjamin Krause 6 Comments 9 inShare A recent VA probe found Fort Collins VA staff were taught to falsify appointment records going back at least one year. The goal of the falsifying the records was to make the small staff of doctors appear they were seeing patients within the 14 day timeline requirement. VHA’s Office of the Medical Inspector evaluated problems with wait times and passed on a copy of their investigation report to USA Today. What coverage of the report left out, like the names of management, I was sure to include at the bottom of this article below. The report stated, “Many of the (clerks) reported significant stress when trying to explain to veterans why they cannot make earlier appointments for them. By entering (false data), the wait time for that patient appears to be zero days. … The wait times were actually much longer.” If a clerk at Fort Collins VA allowed an appointment to go beyond 14 days they would go on a “bad boy list.” Scheduling was magically fixed from that point forward until investigators found the records were falsified. Investigators found that half of the 6000 veteran patient load at Fort Collins VA did not have adequate appointments scheduled. The current crisis is the result of VA reforms in 2013 intended to fix appointment delay problems. Fort Collins VA is under the management of Cheyenne VA Medical Center health care system. The entire system is lead by Cynthia McCormack, a former head of patient care services at the Phoenix VA Medical Center. USA Today covered some additional history into how VA was performing in appointment scheduling across the country. According to the USA Today: The VA in 2013 revamped some of its tracking procedures to better gauge wait times for nearly 100 million medical appointments each year at 151 hospitals and 820 clinics. The agency found that only 41% of new VA medical patients were seen within 14 days last year, down from 90% reported in 2012 under an old, now-abandoned measurement method. The VA found it wasn’t doing so well with first-time mental health appointments, either. The agency reported in 2011 that 95% of new mental health patients were seen within 14 days, but the new tracking system found the rate in 2013 was 66%. USA Today left out the names of the leadership staff responsible for overseeing the Fort Collins VA at the main Cheyenne VA Health Care System. I found some of the names on VA’s website and then the remainder of the names from an additional source that I will keep confidential for now. Here is the VISN 19 – Rocky Mountain Health Care Network. Cheyenne VA Medical Center Leadership Cynthia McCormack, RN, PhD. | Medical Center Director 307.778.7300 Cynthia McCormack was appointed Director, Cheyenne VA Medical Center on August 16, 2010. Prior to this tour Dr. McCormack served as the Associate Director for Patient Care Services, at the Phoenix VA Health Care System (VAHCS) in Phoenix, Arizona. She was responsible for direct patient care and support services for Chaplains, Clinical Informatics, Nursing, Nutrition, Hospitality and Food, Social Work, Sterilization, Processing and Disinfection, and Voluntary Services. Previous assignments at Phoenix included Acting Associate Director and Associate Chief of Staff/Inpatient Care Services. Joining the Department of Veterans Affairs in 1985, Dr. McCormack holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Mount Marty College, Yankton, SD, a Master of Science from the University of Arizona in Tucson, and a Doctorate in Human Services with a focus in Healthcare Administration from Capella University, Minneapolis, MN. She is a certified VHA mentor at the fellow level. Paul L. Roberts | Medical Center Associate Director 307.778.7564 Paul L. Roberts is an executive leader of Tertiary Care, Acute Care and Critical Access Hospitals. Mr. Roberts has a background in Federal healthcare operations (Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs), hospital operations, strategic planning, transition planning, program management, Physician network development. Paul Roberts received his degree from Baylor University. Jerry Zang, MD | Chief of Staff 307.778.7307 Dr. Jerry Zang is an internist in Cheyenne, Wyoming and is affiliated with Cheyenne Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Dr. Zang received his medical degree from Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. He completed his residency at the University of Kentucky and has been in practice for 23 years. Dr. Jerry Zang is one of 14 doctors at Cheyenne Veterans Affairs Medical Center who specialize in Internal Medicine. Polly A. Baird, RN, PhD | Associate Director, Patient Care Service Line / Nurse Executive 307.778.7550 ext. 7316 Frank W. Trejo | EEO Program Manager 307.778.7550 ext. 7930 Additional Cheyenne VA / VISN 19 Leadership Theresa Garduno: Chief, Business Office Cheryl Koski, RN: Chief, Center for Employee Development Sylvie Rupp: Chief, Environment of Care Service Kay Peterson: Chief, Human Resources Andrew Ruben: Public Affairs Officer Lisa Adamson, RN: Chief, Quality Management Read More: usatoday/story/news/nation/2014/05/04/va-healthcare-delays-treatment-phoenix-cheyenne-deaths/8602117/ 9 inShare If you enjoyed this post, please share it using the buttons on the left. 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Filed Under: Bens Blog, News & Legislation, Veteran Health Care Tagged With: Appointment Schedule, Doctors, Falsification Records, Fort Collins Va, Health Appointment, Investigation Reports, Records Gone, Small Staff, Usa Today, Veterans Health Administration, Waiting Time Comments william says: May 7, 2014 at 7:38 pm i waiting on apointment right now 23 day but the hurting in my side has been going on sinch 7 of Aprial they did see me again on the 30 of Aprial an still dont no what rong an now they going to se me on the 23 of may still hurting Reply art1959 says: May 7, 2014 at 12:08 pm Well I can prove in black and white the VA is intentianaly denying claims by backdating evidence so as to consider it not good and that they contradict themselves when it comes to deciding claims. they intentianaly do whatever they can to denie a claim regardless of evidence summited. example: my treating physcologist who is a md did a PTSD questioner in july 16th 2012 but on july 8th 2013 the va denied my claim even after verifying my stressers but said they recieved the PTSD questnar on may 22 1012 wich made it to old to be considered and had to be redone. that’s the reason they made me go to a C&P exam but that lasted 13 minutes after the examiner was 40 minutes late for my appointment and never looked at my records from tampa VA and the the examiner 2 days later summited a 65 page report. tell me whats wrong with this. the regional office in st Petersburg fl is denieng claims at a alarming rate out of Gainsville florida. last year alone 22000 vets died before there claims were ever decided, that’s 1833 a month. Ill be dead before all my appeals are done. Reply figure8fan says: May 7, 2014 at 1:43 pm I know exactly what you are talking about. I have been fighting the VA for almost 6 yrs. now trying to get an increase. I have the medical evidence in black and white that shows my condition has worsened and fits in with what they determined will get a higher rating and I have been denied. The strange thing is that I tried to get an increase on both knees and they only looked at the left and denied the left and did not include the right for anything.. I am working on getting a lawyer as I know this is wrong. They have twisted the wording to be in their favor and state that my disability is for the things that they just found in my recent exam they sent me to. How can that be. They are playing games and I will win this game. I wouldn’t have fought this this long if I didn’t know my condition has worsened. The VFW, who went with me to the BVA is now ignoring my calls to them after they stated they would help me. I am so sick of the VA and their tricks and lies. WE (us vets and others that care about us) need to find a way to band together and pull this system down and rebuild it the right way. I wish I knew how and what to do because I would love to have all the other vets get what they actually deserve. It makes me sad to think that our Government thinks that little of us to do this to us. We were willing to put our lives on the line for our country and some have gave the biggest sacrifice of all, and we still get treated worse that people on welfare. So wrong. Hopefully the things coming to the light will make some changes but I am not going to hold my breath (I know I would pass out before something actually happens). I am in for doing what I can to help my fellow vets get what they deserve. Reply art1959 says: May 7, 2014 at 3:30 pm to the one who replied to my post about VA denying claims , please contact me at 352-503-2569. I read your reply and your right we do need to do something. Theres a lot you don’t know Jfoley says: May 8, 2014 at 6:00 pm Its not just gainensville. Tampa has “doctors” writing false statements similar to yours. I have already contacted one congress member 3x over this and have reached out to 2 senators. Reply J. Edward Vernon jr. says: May 7, 2014 at 8:54 am KIND OF MAKES YOU WANT TO SAY……..HMMMMMMMMMMM
Posted on: Fri, 09 May 2014 23:34:47 +0000
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