UPDATE: News from The Associated Press shows this story is hitting even closer to home than we originally thought:
Employees at a veterans medical clinic in Colorado were instructed to falsify records to make it appear that patients were getting appointments close to the day requested, government investigators said.
Workers at the Fort Collins clinic were told to make their records show that veterans got appointments within 14 days of the day requested, whether or not it was true, according to a December report by investigators from the Veterans Affairs Department’s medical branch. [the Peak emphasis]
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Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Eric Shinseki, is once again in Rep. Mike Coffman’s crosshairs and, this time, Coffman is demanding his resignation. It was revealed last week by CNN that, under Shinseki’s leadership, an elaborate cover-up by VA officials has resulted in the deaths of up to 40 veterans as they waited for care:
Sources told CNN the managers at the VA concocted an elaborate scheme to cover up long wait times there. The sources said more than 1,400 vets were placed on the purported secret list and that documents were shredded to hide the evidence. According to sources, at least 40 U.S veterans died waiting for care at the facility, many of whom were on the list.
Now, veteran groups like The American Legion and Concerned Veterans for America, are joining Coffman in calling for Shinseki’s resignation. As Coffman said in a statement:
“Secretary Shinseki has failed to provide any leadership for this organization and instead he has allowed himself to be led by a circle of incompetent and corrupt bureaucrats who have long forgotten that they are there for the sole purpose of serving those who have sacrificed so much on behalf of this nation.
“If he had these same responsibilities as an Army officer he would have been relieved a long time ago for his lack of leadership. If he fails to resign then the President, as the Commander-in-Chief, has a duty to fire him for gross incompetence.
“Secretary Shinseki was an Army infantry officer and the motto for Army infantry is lead, follow or get out of the way. It’s time for him to get out of the way.” [the Peak emphasis]
Just last month, before these most recent allegations were discovered, Coffman criticized Shinseki for the cost overruns and numerous delays to the VA hospital being built in Aurora. Veterans across Colorado should be concerned that President Obama isn’t holding his administration to higher standards, but Coffman is more than willing to step in and do the job Obama refuses to do.