Mississippi VA Hospital Investigated for Improper Care Allegations
Five whistleblowers have come forward since 2009 alleging carelessness by hospital staff at the Jacksonville VA Hospital.
A Mississippi Department of Veterans Affairs hospital is under scrutiny after employees filed complaints based on a range of incidents, including improper sterilization of instruments and misdiagnosing fatal illnesses. After these incidents were reported, an independent federal investigative agency took action by looking into the hospital’s practices.
This team’s findings were published in a letter to the White House earlier this week. These findings questioned the facility's ability to care for veterans in the future.
Five whistleblowers, who were employees at the hospital in Jacksonville, filed complaints against the hospital, the initial complaint being filed in 2009. An employee claimed that staff at the hospital regularly failed to sterilizes tools, like scalpels and bone cutters, prior to use.
One doctor alleged that staff at the hospital failed to properly thousands of radiology images, with fatal ramifications in some instances.
The VA investigated the Jacksonville hospital in 2009, and the hospital claimed to have made changes to improve concerned raised by employees. However, another whistleblower came forward in 2011 alleging that nothing had improved.
Of the five complaints filed against this hospital, two remain under investigation.