Isakson sees progress in VA system

U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, chairman of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, said Tuesday the culture is changing in the VA healthcare system.

In a town hall meeting in Dublin a year ago, the Georgia Republican promised that VA employees would be held accountable for a scandal in which secret records were kept to hide how long veterans were waiting for care.

But when VA Secretary Robert McDonald came to Macon recently, McDonald acknowledged that only a few employees out of 314,000 nationwide had been fired as a result of the scandal.

In a meeting with the Telegraph editorial board Tuesday in Macon, Isakson was asked whether his promise to hold VA employees accountable had been fulfilled. He suggested the number of people fired does not tell the whole story.

He noted that the first criminal indictment from the scandal was of an employee at the Augusta VA.

“You had a cultural problem in the VA prior to two years ago,” Isakson said. “It was an accepted practice amongst the employees that you could kind of cook the books to make your performance look better so that you would get a pay raise. ... They now realize that type of activity is not going to be tolerated.”

While he said things have improved in the VA system, he called it a “work in progress” and said more needs to be done.

“Bob McDonald is a good man, and he is trying hard,” Isakson said. “It’s going to be an ongoing battle. We owe it to our veterans to do everything we can for them.”

He noted that several investigations are still ongoing.

On Tuesday, Isakson also addressed the potential of a new Base Realignment and Closure Commission. He said he does not consider it likely one will be approved anytime soon.

The 2016 National Defense Authorization Act calls for a study of excess infrastructure in the Department of Defense, which has estimated it to be 20 percent. That figure has been questioned by opponents of BRAC, but even if the study backs up the Department of Defense’s estimate, Isakson does not think that would make BRAC inevitable.

“I don’t think BRAC is going to happen probably until 2018 or 2019, if it happens at all,” he said.

To contact writer Wayne Crenshaw, call 256-9725.

This story was originally published August 25, 2015 at 6:23 PM with the headline "Isakson sees progress in VA system ."