Staff Report Updated 5:54 PM Friday, March 25, 2011DAYTON — U.S. Reps. Mike Turner, R-Centerville, and Russ Carnahan, D-Mo., on Friday requested the House Veterans Affairs Committee hold hearings on the medical safety practices at VA medical facilities nationwide.
Turner and Carnahan asked the committee’s chairman, Jeff Miller, R-Fla., to convene hearings following “two high-profile investigations in the last year” in St. Louis and Dayton, which they claim highlight shortcomings in oversight of broad VA policy as well as regional practices and protocols.
According to the letter:
In May 2010, the VA Inspector General released a report substantiating allegations that endoscopic equipment was not being cleaned properly at the John Cochran VA Medical Center in St. Louis. The VA announced 1,812 veterans had potentially been exposed to HIV or hepatitis due to improper cleaning of dental equipment at that facility. In February 2011, surgical suites at that medical center were closed due to improperly cleaned surgical equipment. A field hearing found an employee who complained of the violations to supervisors was ignored.
Problems also have been reported at the Dayton VA Medical Center’s dental clinic, where a dentist failed to follow basic infection control practices, exposing at least 535 former patients to hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV.
“The sum of these disturbing revelations brings into question medical and administrative practices in VA facilities, particularly the oversight mechanisms used to police faculty adherence to infectious disease policy,” the letter reads. “We believe the severity of these infractions and the length of time they persisted demonstrates a national systemic problem that warrants the committee’s full attention.”
I have had nothing but trouble going to the Dayton VA Medical Center for 19 years!
Thank God us Veterans are getting proper help to repair the poor help we get from the Dayton VA for all Veterans.
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