Article 67. Public Attention to VA Problems is Starting to Wane

We have all seen this happen before, public attention is what drives congress and the VA to answer to whistle blowers.  The attention lasts for only a few months until some other new catastrophe over shadows the problem such as the recent invasion of Iraq by Muslem extremists.  The offending Bureaucracy in this case the VA at first pretends to investigate and finds nothing.  In response to Dr. Foote’s first Letter in 2013 about the Scheduling problems at the Phoenix VA Medical facility, the VA had the matter investigated by its OIG and found nothing.  It wasn’t until the story broke on Dr. Foote’s second Letter in February 2014 that public attention through the media was focused on the VA’s problems.  Meanwhile the VA sent its OIG out again to investigate and the full story began to emerge.  As the findings get worse the media attention grows to a peak.  This is followed by press releases by the VA that no one has actually been harmed by the VA scheduling problems.  This a false claim to sooth the public into thinking that the VA’s problems are being solved and the government is actually doing something. Now the story is waning in the press it is becoming old news and the media moves on to the latest story the Iraq invasion. 

The problem is with the VA’s bureaucratic management which operates its Medical Facilities as little medieval fiefdoms.  Only reports of good news ever reaches the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and he never investigates rumors of wrong doing lessening the chance of actually finding a substantial problem.  What is happening is that in a few more months the VA will claim that it has addressed its problems and the newly appointed Secretary of Veterans Affairs will claim that he will never allow the VA’s problems to occur again.  All is forgiven and the VA continues business as usual.

Veteran organizations have been waiting on the sideline to see what the Federal Government actually does.  It will find that the Federal Government has done little except to implement new laws allowing for the removal of corrupt VA management a mere slap on the wrists for wide spread mismanagement.  This does not imply that all of the VA’s Management need to be replaced many are excellent managers but simply the Bureaucratic environment entraps all of the VA's managers.  This is why the systemic Bureaucratic VA management will not reform themselves leaving but one option the reform must come from outside the organization.

Therefore my proposal to the Senate Veterans Affairs and the House Veterans Affairs Committees for a Consulting Agreement.  This proposal can only be accepted by the VA Committees by enacting legislation.  Because the Federal Government does not accept proposals from the public by its vendor laws.  Listed Vendors cannot make originating proposals to the Federal Government they can only make proposals to calls for proposals from government agencies.  Simply put an agency is most unlikely to call for proposals from outside Consultants to reform itself.

Since Sweeping Reforms is unlikely to be implemented by the VA itself I recommend that VA reforms be implemented by a Congressionally Chartered Veterans Affairs Reform Committee.  This Committee should have the power to bring in outside Consultants to implement the needed reforms. The result could be that the VA becomes the best managed organization in the Federal Government or the alternative "business as usual".   See articles 61, 64, 65, and 66.