The Goshen News Responds to VA Critiques of Article on Proposed Budget
Editor’s note: After publication of a June 1 article titled “VA Secretary Defends Proposed Budget, Murphy Calls it a ‘Band-Aid’” by Esther D’Amico, Dept. of Veterans Affairs Press Secretary Quinn Slaven responded with a request for several corrections to what he called “factual errors” in the story. The Secretary of Veterans Affairs is Doug Collins.
The Goshen News stands by the story.
From the VA: “The author wrote: ‘Collins, who started an initiative to reform the department earlier this year, has been making the rounds in and out of Washington to promote the budget.’” Assertion by the VA: “His visits to VA hospitals and clinics aren’t about promoting a budget.”
The Goshen News response: During the federal budget appropriations cycle, it’s common for Cabinet secretaries and other executive branch officials to tour states to drum up public support for their work so far and for what they plan to do. The noted text doesn’t link visits to VA facilities by Collins with seeking support for the budget. The subsequent sentence mentions hospitals Collins has visited and quotes him as saying he took on the travel to “get a handle in managing this department.” That still does not state Collins visits VA facilities solely to promote a budget.
From the VA: “She went on to write: ‘… sufficiency of current VA staffing given the VA’s elimination of nearly 30,000 jobs last year, as well as plans to close certain underperforming clinics.’” Assertion by the VA: “This lacks important context that has been misreported widely. The 30,000 figure refers to employees who took voluntary early leave, but they weren’t doctors and nurses.”
The Goshen News response: The article does not say doctors and nurses made up the 30,000 eliminated jobs. Elsewhere, the article quotes a report by the VA Office of Inspector General that found VA facilities had severe staffing shortages and some 94% of them reported severe doctor and nursing shortages.
From the VA: “She then provided inaccurate description of community care: ‘Privatized care allows veterans to use the VA’s Community Care Network to see non-VA doctors, while direct care refers to VA medical professionals at government-owned VA facilities.’” Assertion by the VA: VA adheres to the MISSION Act, which gives Veterans choice of where to seek care, but it is not ‘privatized care.’”
The Goshen News response: According to the American Medical Association, both the 2014 Choice Act and 2018 MISSION Act approved by Congress "broadened access to VA-purchased private-sector care in the community for eligible veterans." The VA allows veterans to seek care in their Community Care Network -- where they see private medical professionals. From the VA’s website: “The VA provides health care directly at its own facilities, whereas VA Community Care is a program that pays for eligible veterans to receive medical treatment from private, non-VA doctors within their local community.”
