VA Interim CHIO Pulls A Trump, Tweets Resignation From Cerner Project
The interim CHIO Genevieve Morris resigned from her post after just one month leading VA in its project to transition from VA’s open course VistA EHR to the Cerner EHR system.
The mode of her resignation? Twitter.
Last Friday, Morris resigned from her role as Interim Chief Health Information Officer for the Office of EHR Modernization (OEHRM). Her letter of resignation was delivered both to the HHS Secretary Alex Azar and to the newly appointed VA Secretary Robert Wilkie.
Curious, right? Why did Morris send the letter to both offices if she was a VA employee?
The reason she cited for her departure was that, shortly after starting, she realized the project was going “in a different direction” than she first believed. Just a few months earlier, VA’s acting CIO Scott Blackburn also resigned.
Why the resignations?
Reading between the lines, a press release from Morris may reveal the answer.
“We are working hard to configure and design a system focused on quality, safety and patient outcomes, which will allow health IT innovations within one VA facility to be used across the entire VA health-care system,” she said in a press release announcing the creation of the office.
The model she is referring to likely does not exist within the Cerner universe.
What does this mean for the $10 billion modernization project?
Many DC insiders are beginning to wonder whether the Cerner contract was a smart move for the agency given feedback from DOD after attempting to implement the transition starting last year. The Cerner framework is reportedly bulky and demanding of local resources making nationwide integration across all VA facilities near impossible.
Who Owns Your Data?
Another issue is ownership of veterans’ data. Some of you may recall my investigation into Flow Health two years ago and the curious Alex Meshkin who somehow secured an agreement to access veterans’ genomic data with the intent on selling access to the data once his algorithms sifted through it to create a proprietary mix of genomic information.
His goal was to make money for himself and investors, and former VA Secretary David Shulkin revoked his agreement once I exposed problems with the motive citing the agreement may have been illegal.
As it relates to Cerner, some opponents to the plan have lodged concern over Cerner’s possible ownership over veterans’ data once the existing EHR is transitioned (ie modernized) using Cerner’s proprietary data.
Will Cerner own your data? Can they refuse to provide data gleaned from veterans’ health records for research purposes citing their own proprietary ownership?
DOD allegedly was rebuked by Cerner when agency leadership requested certain information from soldiers’ health records. What is to say the company will not treat access to veterans’ health data in the same manner?
Who really owns your data, anyway? Is it yours? Not if that data was input into the proprietary software to analyze your genomic sequence.
If that software detects an unforeseen medical crisis, will the software owner demand payment before revealing the illness or known cure? Could Cerner sell that cure to another company that in turn markets it back to you for a profit? What about selling it to another with a similar genomic makeup?
Something to think about.
Genevieve Morris Resignation Tweets
Thread: Sharing a copy of the resignation letter (from both VA and ONC) I submitted this morning to Secretaries Azar and Wilkie, so folks have more than half of one sentence. As to future plans, taking a long nap is in my near future. 🙂
— Genevieve Morris (@HITpolicywonk) August 24, 2018
One more before I enjoy dinner in couch nook. FYI, I currently live in the Pacific Northwest, and quite frequently forward supported petitions signed, write to WA State Sen Patty Murray, Seen Maria Cantwell, Congressman Rick Larsen, Senator Barbara Bailey, and Rep’s Dave Hayes and Norma Smith.
They’re all worthy Public Representatives. I’m not partial to either Party, I simply do my research, on All candidates, and vote for the best person to do the job.
I must admit that, come Nov election day, my tipping point shall be those supporting “decriminalization of marijuana from schedule one list’…..
**” Which is the only solid cure to the abusive “withholding of medication by VA Staff, of those in mental health &)or pain management contracts, misuse of contract UA results.
Focus Gayle, lol.
Trump Mar-a-Lago pals hold up VA contract
By ARTHUR ALLEN 04/30/2018 10:00 AM EDT
With help from Mohana Ravindranath
INFLUENCE IS INFLUENCE: A West Palm Beach, Fla., internist who happens to be part of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago circle has apparently put the kibosh on the VA’s $16 billion Cerner project for the past few months because he’s been unhappy with his own experience with the Cerner software he uses at two Florida hospitals, according to four former and current senior VA officials.
With the White House’s approval, Dr. Bruce Moskowitz has participated in two or three monthly calls since November with the contracting team responsible for implementing the 10-year project, according to two former senior VA officials. Ike Perlmutter, the Marvel Entertainment chairman and a buddy of Trump’s, has also been on some calls, they said.
It’s no surprise that many doctors don’t like their EHRs, or that there’s plenty of skepticisms about the VA deal out there — especially given the early stumbles of the MHS Genesis program in the military’s four bases in the Pacific Northwest.
However, the involvement of Moskowitz and Perlmutter, which has not previously been reported, infuriated clinicians involved in the VA project, including former Secretary David Shulkin, according to one of the sources, a former senior VA official. He and the others felt that Moskowitz was out of his league in assessing the Cerner project.
“Shulkin would say, “Who the hell is this person who practices medicine in Florida and has never run a health care system?” said the source. He said Moskowitz’s involvement was a flashpoint in Shulkin’s dealings with other White House-appointed officials, which contributed to his being fired March 28.
The behind-the-scenes involvement of Moskowitz and Perlmutter illustrates the degree to which members of Trump’s social circle have been able to influence government decisions, even about extraordinarily specialized subjects.
MHS GENESIS UPDATE: At a hearing last week, Sen. Patty Murray charged that the MHS Genesis rollout at four bases in her home state was “plagued by technical problems.” Clinicians at the military facilities described “inaccurate prescription submissions, misdirected patient referrals” and “long waits to resolve problems,” she said, and some staff had to pay money out of their operating budgets to compensate for inadequate training.
— Stacy Cummings, who’s in charge of the implementation, said DoD was in the process of closing about 1,0000 of the 7,000 trouble tickets racked up through January. “[D]epending on the level of complexity and how much work needs to be done directly with the user, those changes will be made over the remainder of the year,” she said. The configuration of MHS Genesis deployed at the four bases “provided a minimally suitable starting point to assess the system, as well as the infrastructure prior to full deployment,” she acknowledged, but DoD can now “make adjustments to software, training, and workflows and be confident the changes are positive and impactful.”
— As far as she knows, Cummings said, the VA is “still moving the ball forward” on its Cerner contract. More details from the hearing here.
— While the DoD works to fix the Cerner implementation at the bases around Spokane and the Puget Sound, MultiCare Health Spokane announced it will go live with a $25 million Epic EHR implementation early this summer to improve interoperability with two other big other big state providers, Providence Washington and Kaiser Permanente.
Kk, gnite all.
Typo: “FYI, the symbolizes me”….
Somehow my brain, and texting trigger finger, deleted the rest of original text, and for the life of me, I can’t remember what the heck I originally meant to say.
Oh well, tis my mindful life.
08/28/2018
Dear Benjamin Krause,
Benjamin you stated “Reading between the lines, a press release from Morris may reveal the answer.”
“’We are working hard to configure and design a system focused on quality, safety and patient outcomes, which will allow health IT innovations within one VA facility to be used across the entire VA health-care system,’ she said in a press release announcing the creation of the office.”
“The interim CHIO Genevieve Morris resigned from her post” withdrawing from the “project to transition from VA’s open course VistA EHR to the Cerner EHR system.”—$10 Billion Contract
Maybe it was time to go! Knowing too much can be dangerous. The Navy Seal Admiral William H. McRaven gave a motivational speech for the class of 2014–“Respect Everyone.”
At least this unqualified individual knew to get out before the collapse of the contract at the Corporation.
How can anyone work at the VA under these given conditions?
“The Department of Justice is committed to protecting the men and women serving in the United States military from defective products and fraudulent conduct,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Chad A. Readler of the Department’s Civil Division.
Again, Benjamin, please tell Chad we have got some work for him [Review the $10 Billion Contact]!
Sincerely,
Don Karg
This is a really important project for the VA. The price tag seems like a lot, and I am sure there will be overruns beyond that, but the savings from both process and care should be monumental. More important is that having a good EHR allows veterans to get care based on the the best clinical workflows, and data/analytics being developed.
If it’s not Cerner, it needs to be something else. I’m concerned about the leadership turnover, and hope there’s a clear plan and vision around this shortly.
The best and clearest plan is to stop ignoring the fact that VA has failed America time and again with no end in sight. The entire department and all its runctions need to be absorbed by SSA and all medical decisions, determinations, diagnosis, and treatment of veterans would become the responsibility of the free market just like it is for everyone else entitled to federal healthcare benefits.
The VA is bloated, inept, staffed with dotards and thieves and kept afloat by enormous rivers of money that start out and end up just like the Rio Grande yet everyone is still thirsty, VA begs for more of you name it, and more veterans every day pay the enormous cost of human suffering that is inevitable when you put a scalple in the hands of a government doctor. The fix for VA is to end this failed experiment in government and move on to what works.
These are the last paragraphs of a “Rolling Stone” article.
“https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-mccain-veterans-716470/”
“August 28, 2018 3:02PM ET
The Military Community Might Actually Be Souring on Trump
The president’s disgraceful response to John McCain’s death is just the latest example in a string of disrespectful words and actions
By Ryan Bort
…“A direct attack on a Gold Star family, for their patriotism, for their integrity, is totally unprecedented,” Paul Reickhoff, the founder and CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, told Rachel Maddow. “This is beyond partisanship. This is about honor. This is about integrity. It’s completely out of bounds.” Reickhoff added a belief that the issue would affect Trump at the polls. “There are 22 million veterans in America,” he said. “Our members are extremely diverse. A lot of them are independents, but they vote at over 90 percent. They’re very influential in their communities.” A few months later, veterans would vote for Trump by a two-to-one margin.
Since becoming president, Trump has continued to make empty, ostentatious shows of support for the armed services. He regularly accuses NFL players of disrespecting the military as they protest police brutality during the national anthem. He ordered the Pentagon to plan an over-the-top military parade in Washington D.C., one that he ultimately canceled as costs ballooned. He has been known to literally hug the flag.
At the same time, the Trump administration is working to prevent transgender Americans from serving their country. On Memorial Day he used dead soldiers as a means to tout his own accomplishments. ProPublica reported earlier this month that three members of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club — a Marvel executive, a Palm Beach doctor and a lawyer — were essentially running the Department of Veteran Affairs despite having no relevant experience. A few days later, the administration announced its plan to stop checking for violations of the Military Lending Act, making it easier for financial predators to take advantage of service members and their families. The list goes on.
Veterans have long been used as political props, but never before has a politician failed to uphold so many baseline standards for decency toward those who have served. It hasn’t seemed to matter, though. The Veterans of Foreign Wars, which vociferously condemned Trump’s attacks on the Khan family, recently hosted the president in Missouri. The welcome was warm and, as expected, Trump mostly used the occasion to complain to the thousands of veterans assembled in front of him about how unfairly he has been treated by the media. He might as well have been talking to his supporters at one of his campaign-style rallies.
Trump doesn’t respect or care about veterans in any meaningful sense, and, as is the case with Trump’s obstruction of justice and his campaign’s collusion with Russia, the evidence is hiding in plain sight. His behavior is just so abhorrent that it’s easier to find twisted ways to rationalize it rather than confronting the president’s moral vapidity directly. “Everyone keeps talking about this as breaking a taboo, crossing a line and doing something unprecedented,” Maddow said while speaking with Reickhoff in 2016. “Because of that we don’t actually know what the response is. There’s nothing like this in history to say this is the appropriate response or this is the equivalent political fate that befell somebody else who did this.”
The same is true two years later, and while the nation remains paralyzed in bewilderment, Trump continues to be president. His response to McCain’s death won’t be the last time he disrespects the military in service of a mind-numbingly petty grudge or the enrichment of the ruling class. Whenever that next time comes, America will once again be outraged. Now, however, it knows better than to think it will affect Trump at the polls.”
Personally I believe that most Veterans didn’t like the old lame brain songbird and that most Veterans view Reickhoff the same way.
@ Seymore,
I only posted the last half of the article, which mentions several things some readers may not be aware of having happend throughout the administration. Some have been discussed here and a couple of them were news to me, so also, maybe to others.
Rosie great post,
I will be reading the article.
Nothing there new to me, and thanks for the post. Rooling Stone and the rest are not our friends either way. That said I don’t believe any stinking Congress person has earned the right or expectations of high honors or flags at half staff for what damages have been done to us and this nation for generations. Just to pacify filth, corruption, families, to make things look “positive” while it all smells of a cesspool. Deep state and our pet parasites of a shadow government as well. Are they kidding me? One health care and set of laws and allowances for those in DC and others for us or the peeps? And those of the “greatest generation” expects us to swallow crap they kicked down to us and like it and accept it all? Horse hockey. Truth hurts so pacify and lie to cover up a plethora of things and evils, revised history, and lies. Bow to the traditions of lying media, DC, trash VSOs, activist, professional nation busters, to Hollywood, etc.
Who writes the history books, “the lying victors,” allows them in academia to brain-wash the kiddies/population with over the generations over many topics. Who swept the major starts of all our wars, the USS Liberty and countless other things under the rug for countless years. But mob rule, the fascist, anti-Americans and rulers win to make things turn their way or benefit them and our government occupiers and corrupt trash.
Who cares what the Legion and the others think or want as well to do. They spit and turned their backs on many vets, play politics, are corrupt, highly divisive, propagandize, self-serving, lie, and turned their backs on those in need like the sailors of the Liberty (with many witnesses), and troops being used as test rats for the gubbermint and on it goes. To this very day. And to this day there has been more lying books written than actual facts or truths… including biographies to religions, and no doubt McNuts too to preserve his sick families glorious name, to pacify and protect his supporters and backers, and covering-up all the evils. Trillions upon trillions of dollars lost and given away long before Trumpster and where did all that go? Like wars and supporting evils it continues. Rolling Stoners ignore many things too…like missing money and Obummer’s crap to supporting those who ruined this country including the entertainment crowd who pretend to care but actually the reverse. And no I’m not on a Trump train or wagon either.
Who is going to stand-up and report truth and facts today. Snopes that many run to for “TRUTH’ does his share of propagandizing and distracting too like denying his “songbird” status, like Wiki lies and offers up half truths many times. Any real time witnesses like those on the Liberty, in Hanoi with McCluck are dismissed and called liars just to preserve a name or linage or protect the government and it’s racketeers.
If they are going to keep slamming Trumpster and his loud mouth, connections, secretive advisors, SES/dark ops directives, or failings then they should include all those before him like Obummer, lying Bush’s, to lying Lincoln, or Clintoon ushering in their damages and secretive advisors, traitorous actions, and sickos too. Or of their ushering in United Nation’s agendas, open borders, communism, communitarianism, globalism, Marxism, lefty college rule, etc. It’s all endless. Publishers, to media, academia, and on.. the truth is not wanted or allowed…. censoring and forced group-think.” The VA that I noticed went to crap under Obummer while we were told to “vote Democrat” for better care, VSOs too, and all those destructive “orders,” and change in treatments and threats…”came from orders at the top” and “very top” in DC and Congress. I think we all know what happens to those who don’t fit in with the herds, bow to group-think, to PC-ness, to all the lies we were brought up to believe in and never question. Great article for getting me stirred up. RStone should have mentioned what the glorious Barbara Bush said about poor people including vets needing food stamps on a hot mic that was buried and covered up too like many other things. Oh but she was concerned about the needy and poor. LOL
So in other words somebody with talent saw immediately she was surrounded by self serving baboons with the iq of a flying squirel who have no more clue about technology other than being able to flatten out a dollar for the snack machine and decided that the direction of sanity had been lost with no hopes of recovery so quit.
Sounds like a good tweet to me. Smart girl.
It’s simple. Cerner is connected. It doesn’t have to work for people to get paid a lot of money. Spend a billion out of ten, then cancel – no problem. A billion goes a long way among friends. Performance based liquidated damages – I’ll bet not. Just a cancellation of a contract.
It also funds a lot of political campaigns!
Here are several links to Cerner’s lobbying bucks being spend that have been reported at Open Secrets dot Org. Note the Lobby Bucks (Bribes), are going to the senate and the house of representatives with a small portion going directly to the department of defense. All of it regarding their deal with the Department of Defense and the Veterans Administration. So everyone who is on the different committees are getting lobby bucks from Cerner.
2017 Lobby bucks that have been reported, note does not include the major side bucks lobbying through their non-profits.
“https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientsum.php?id=D000024686&year=2017”
“https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientissues.php?id=D000024686&year=2017”
Sounds like there’s a lot of monkey business going on with taxpayers monies. Wonder how many VA upper SES’ers have had their offshore bank accounts grow fatter?
P.S. Harrington should have been commended instead of being fired
Anyone who would work any position at the VA Bay Pines facility is trash that needs to be fired anyway.
“VA POLICE TELL VETS TO KILL THEMSELVES, VA POLICE NOT INTERESTED IN TAKING COMPLAINT.”
“https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4p2_9id6SKs&feature=youtu.be”
“https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pJ42NRUzTk&list=PLHYWT0oUinYRXJjg3LGvAj1frI6ua79Dx”
It appears that the police officer in question, Harrington, was responding to the many OBSERVED violations of law and accepted procedure with the VA. I have had these “Cowboy procedures” attempted to be performed against me, before they found out I was a lawyer when I just laughed at them. More cover up at the VA.
Many times the VA Administration have used unauthorized tactics to cover up or “over do” when the situation just calls for even headed tactics, to defuse the situation. The VA needs to provide better training to its Cops who many times are involved in difficult situations, but still have to be held to constitutional standards. As well higher placed VA officials at the facility level need to know that they have a limit to the power they exert over veterans.
More good investigatory reporting by Ben.
““We are working hard to configure and design a system focused on quality, safety and patient outcomes, which will allow health IT innovations within one VA facility to be used across the entire VA health-care system,” she said in a press release announcing the creation of the office.”
Uhh, they already have that with VistA! If they’d stop spending billions on trying to reinvent the wheel, and UPGRADE and MERGE the system they have successfully used autonomously for years, then we would not have to endure another clustercrap scenario over OUR medical records for decades to come.
“Many DC insiders are beginning to wonder whether the Cerner contract was a smart move for the agency given feedback from DOD after attempting to implement the transition starting last year. The Cerner framework is reportedly bulky and demanding of local resources making nationwide integration across all VA facilities near impossible.”
Ahh, the crackin’ VA research team (not) hard at work! I guess it’s easier to spend billions on crap, earn baseless promotions, then (not) apologize profusely for acting like a dufus wasting taxpayer dollars!
“As it relates to Cerner, some opponents to the plan have lodged concern over Cerner’s possible ownership over veterans’ data once the existing EHR is transitioned (ie modernized) using Cerner’s proprietary data.”
Hmm, if I’m remembering correctly, wasn’t one of the thingy’s (yes, today that’s a technical term!) involved in the contract that for now, VistA and Cerner could work simultaineously but, there could not be new entries into VistA, or something along those lines?
Who owns and has perpetual access to OUR medical records is a question that needs an iron-clad answer.
BTW, does anyone know the VA name bestowed on the Cerner program?
Tampa VA Police Officer Says He Was Fired After Blowing Whistle
by Michael Volpe, Daily Caller News Foundation, 10:25 PM 08/27/2018
“A Tampa Veteran Affairs police officer said he was fired after reporting on wrongdoing in his department.
Charles Harrington is speaking exclusively with The Daily Caller about the problems he found at the Bay Pines VA facility, but he also submitted detailed reports of his findings to then VA Secretary David Shulkin, the VA Office of Inspector General (VAOIG), and Office of Special Counsel (OSC).
According to the report prepared for Shulkin, Congress and others, a man named Raymond Harrison walked into the Bay Pines VA on June 2, 2015, and during a police interview, implicated Carl Giordano and Thomas Stewart in distributing prescription drugs illegally.
The two men were later convicted in Circuit Court, and both have been released from jail. But Harrington alleges that procedures and the suspects’ constitutional rights were violated along the way.
He alleges that VA police detective Fernando Olivas didn’t read Giordano his Miranda rights, failed to follow appropriate chain of custody procedures while handling evidence, and included irrelevant medical information about the suspect in a police report.
Olivas “ignored the Rules of Evidence and violated the Constitutional Rights of the accused,” Harrington writes in his report.
Harrington claims that Olivas failed to establish probable cause before placing Giordano under arrest, despite Harrison’s implication and Giordano making an “excited utterance,” according to a police report when Olivas asked him whether he passed anything to Stewart.
“Olivas then states he left Stewart in the custody of a uniformed VA Police Officer. There is no record with (the police report), nor within known subsequent follow up statements attached to the report, of there being a search conducted of Stewart’s person when taken into physical custody; who conducted the search nor where or with ‘whom’ the chain of custody begins or ends with, nor the point, time, location, or circumstances of incriminating physical evidence discovered within the control of the suspect for which he was charged.”
While Giordano was being detained, he was left alone by Bay Pines VA police and overdosed on pills.
“While the unknown officer was away, Giordano swallowed a purported amount of thirty pills which were left in his possession. An ambulance was called, and Giordano was taken to the Emergency Department at the C.W. Bill Young VA Medical Center for treatment. He was Baker Acted (held in a psych ward temporarily against his will), and after being cleared and released on 07/16/2015, Giordano was taken to jail,” Harrington said.
Although Giordano survived, he lay comatose for three to four days in the hospital, according to Harrington’s investigation.
Harrington said he began investigating the incident on his own, more than a year later, because no one had been held responsible.
At least one federal agency found Harrington’s investigation had merit; Michael Nacincik, public affairs officer for the VA Office of Inspector General, issued this statement: “In this instance the OIG reviewed the matter and determined at the time that it should be referred to VA for appropriate action.”
Due to his investigation, Harrington said, he has been retaliated against; since January 2017, he has been under investigation for an allegation of releasing private information illegally.
According to documents reviewed by TheDC, in October 2017, the newly created VA Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection (OAWP) stepped in and issued an executive stay order — stopping any VA action against Harrington — but that stay order was revoked in June 2018, and he was terminated soon after.
James Hutton, Deputy Assistant Secretary for the VA’s Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs, issued a statement.
“VA’s Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection investigated these allegations in April 2018. The investigation did not substantiate whistleblower retaliation against Mr. Harrington,” Hutton stated. “Under the provisions of the VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act, Harrington’s proposed removal was placed on hold in October of 2017 while OAWP investigated the disclosure he had filed. After OAWP’s investigation did not substantiate whistleblower retaliation, the hold was lifted.”
Hutton continued: “Mr. Harrington was removed for a number of blatant and repeated violations of VA policies including conduct unbecoming of an officer (multiple counts), failure to cooperate in an agency fact finding, violation of privacy policy and the national rules of behavior.”
Full Article At: “https://dailycaller.com/2018/08/27/tampa-va-officer-fired-blowing-whistle/”
Oh to be clear on the section stating;
““Olivas then states he left Stewart in the custody of a uniformed VA Police Officer. There is no record with (the police report), nor within known subsequent follow up statements attached to the report, of there being a search conducted of Stewart’s person when taken into physical custody; who conducted the search nor where or with ‘whom’ the chain of custody begins or ends with, nor the point, time, location, or circumstances of incriminating physical evidence discovered within the control of the suspect for which he was charged.”
While Giordano was being detained, he was left alone by Bay Pines VA police and overdosed on pills.
“While the unknown officer was away, Giordano swallowed a purported amount of thirty pills which were left in his possession.”
From an Interview with the suspect named Stewart – “Stewart, in a video visitation from the jail, said that he has known Giordano for about three years, but that the hydrocodone in his possession was his own prescription and that VA police placed a different hydrocodone pill in his bag when he refused to inform on Giordano.
Tuesday evening, Dangel declined comment about Stewart’s allegation.”
That interview was in an article at:
Vet’s overdose while in custody spurs VA probe
By Howard Altman | Times Staff Writer Howard Altman
Published: August 5, 2015
At: “https://www.tbo.com/list/military-news/vets-overdose-while-in-custody-spurs-va-probe-20150805/”
Another Veterans Suicide at a VA Hospital. This time we get a chance to read what happened to cause this Veterans suicide and it was the VA.
From the article:
“Your kid can grow up, even join the Army and go to war and you’ll still do dad things when he comes back. David Toombs would make his son lunch.
“I always made him extra, just in case he got hungry or he wanted a snack or he was running low on money. So I made his lunch like a typical dad,” says Toombs.
Toombs worked right next to his son John at a steel die shop in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
John took the job after leaving the Army, but he couldn’t leave his memories of Afghanistan behind so easily. He developed a drug problem that landed him in the residential treatment program at the Murfreesboro VA.
It’s meant to be an intensive therapeutic atmosphere – but it also demands strict discipline, and on the morning of Nov. 22, 2016 John was abruptly kicked out for being late to take his meds.
Later that day his father came to pick him up.
“I said, ‘Come on John, let’s go, I don’t want to leave you out here,’ ” David Toombs recalls. But John didn’t want to leave.
“He said, ‘I’m gonna be OK. I’m gonna sleep in the emergency room,
go see the patients’ advocate and the director in the morning and try to get back in the program,’ ” Toombs recalls.
John loitered around the campus all night. His father believes he went to the emergency room and was turned away; VA denies it. Sometime before dawn John recorded a video on his phone.
“When I asked for help they opened up a Pandora’s box inside of me and just kicked me out the door,” Toombs said, “that’s how they treat veterans ’round here.”
In the message he thanks the people who did help.
“Some of you I love more than the whole wide world,” he says and it ends.
Then John went to a construction site on the campus and hanged himself.”
Source:
A Vet’s Suicide Pushes The VA To Do Better
August 28, 20187:22 AM ET
“https://www.npr.org/2018/08/28/640918694/a-vets-suicide-pushes-the-va-to-do-better”
@ Seymore Klearly….
This one caused me to get all teary-eyed.
It’s simply unacceptable as to the ways humans, not only Vets, are treated by our self-serving medical individuals. Grrr.
OT whistle-blower news report:
“https://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-sues-defense-department-on-behalf-of-whistleblower-who-lost-security-clearance-after-raising-questions-about-prominent-trump-spygate-figure/?utm_source=deployer&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=tipsheet&utm_term=members&utm_content=20180828132706”
OT just interesting:
“https://federalnewsradio.com/federal-drive/2018/08/senate-bill-funds-dod-for-2019-awaiting-house-approval/”
This too: Ole Mitch Daniels and many others are/have dumped vets/VA issues/Corruption to go global. One of the leaders of PC-ness and hate speech crimes wanted to silence anything offensive to anyone. Where are all those “records” going and for who all to see? While they build obelisk and like other campuses strange art. Azar and many others called to duty in DC from the happy happy occupied/censored state of Indiana. As we are supposed to live life like living on a lefty college campus, and all must be PC and positive about all things.
“https://www.purdueglobal.edu/about/about-purdue-global/”
We don’t own much. We MAY not have total access to what our files contain or is inserted for “inner-office use only.” Or used to further all the retaliation from everywhere. Ask a major retalitory civy hospital for copies of med files (VA files included plus all other investigative reports) to be refused or then ask to have them totally deleted from their system… not a chance… “it’s all theirs now.” Then try to prove how and why some of that info escapes out into local politicians/activist’s viewing or used for some of their enjoyment… to show they can commit murder, do as they please, censor, prohibit recordings and get away with it too. All the scum have ensured the ball is in their court permanently.
Media and leakers have tightened up with information, censoring doubled down/increased. Not much news on suicides. Musical chairs continue on in DC, greed and control are words of the day. Tax dollars flooding out to foreigners. More $ for the perpetual war machines. How many trillions more will DC or Pentagon lose and knowingly waste? Young troops brain-washed about fighting for our freedom and the fine care they will get for signing on the dotted lines. lol. All is well I guess. We must keep all things thought, reported and said.. positive. No negatives about our lefty global villages. Choke.
Not to knock her education but when looked at it is very clear that she did not have the education or training for the position she held at the VA. It is amazing that anybody would have considered her to be qualified to work with the $10 Billion contract.
Her education includes a BS degree in History she earned in 2000 – 2004. The degree was earned at the now defunct Northland Baptist Bible College a.k.a. Northland International University. One of the reasons that it went out of business is that it never was Accredited by the state of Wisconsin so students were ineligible for any state assistance to attend. In 2009 the college did invest in a website but seems to not have been very technologically capable prior to then.
Her master’s degree she earned at another Baptist University named Temple University. She earned her MA in the field of Political Science Between 2007 – 2010.
She clearly did not have the education required for the job and was in way over her head.
Her prior work experience clearly did not full fill the requirements needed to be the Chief Health Information Officer at the VA or the position of Principal Deputy National Coordinator for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.
It is likely that she will be returning to her prior employer for a position at Audacious Inquiry, LLC. They just had a major shakeup two days before she submitted her resignation letters. It is likely she had already accepted a position with them.
Sources: Linkedin, wikipedia, Achived website for university at: “https://archive.is/20121212171309/https://www.ni.edu/”, and the internet archives
Clearly if she had been left in charge of the implementation of the Cerner contract. There would have been zero chance of success. Now for the big question. Who placed her in those positions and when are they going to be fired.
Whoops my bad. Peter O’Rourke put her into the position just before the new Sec of Veterans Affairs took over and Peter O’Rourke has already been fired or reassigned but not back into his position as Chief of Staff. Can’t imagine why he wouldn’t be returned to his position as COS.
Sounds exactly like id.me hijacking our access to vets.gov! Everybody has their snout in the veterans’ personal and private trough!