White House eyes Cleveland Clinic CEO to head Veterans Affairs
Reports have surfaced that the White House is considering Cleveland Clinic CEO Delos “Toby” Cosgrove to head Veterans Affairs.
Dr. Cosgrove, a decorated Vietnam veteran, has been the head of Cleveland Clinic for a decade. The Cleveland Clinic is considered one of the most prestigious hospital systems in the nation. The Wall Street Journal reported that three people familiar with the situation said Dr. Cosgrove is “seriously considering” the offer.
Beyond the headlines, here are some basic facts about the candidate.
Cosgrove at Cleveland Clinic
Dr. Cosgrove is credited with improving the patient experience at the Cleveland Clinic. Last year, he boasted about the clinic’s high patient satisfaction scores. This is not unlike Shinseki’s boasting of patient satisfaction scores, except he did so during testimony about the Phoenix Wait List Scandal.
Interestingly, during Dr. Cosgrove’s tenure, the hospital is also credited with policing behaviors of its employees by not hiring smokers and eliminating fried foods from the main campus. It also removed sugary drinks from its hospitals. This puts Cleveland Clinic in line with Michelle Obama’s policy against unhealthy but tasty foods and will be a huge hit with union employees at VA if implemented there [sic].
Corporate Connections
Delos M. Cosgrove, III has ties and past connections to the following corporations aside from Cleveland Clinic:
- Kaiser Permanente
- President & Trustees of Williams College
- The Cleveland Clinic Foundation
- CCF Health Initiative, LLC
Of note here is Dr. Cosgrove’s connection with Kaiser Permanente. Last February, VA unveiled its new relationship with Kaiser to enhance VA population management tools. The partnership will also explore genomics and analytics to alter current health care policies.
Cosgrove’s military service
Dr. Cosgrove served as the chief of US Air Force Casualty Staging Flight in Vietnam. While there, he was awarded the Bronze star and the Republic of Vietnam Commendation Medal.
Education
Dr. Cosgrove attended Williams College for his undergraduate studies. Later, he attended medical school at the University of Virginia and completed clinical training at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston Children’s Hospital and Brook General Hospital in London.
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IT`S Not any “Man”, It`s YOUR Government. The People elected to SERVE YOU. that have to do what`s right at the V.A. Changing the Man does nothing. But deflect attention from the real problem. NO ONE MAN Can do what is needed.
I want The American Veteran to be able to go to ANY Hospital in the United States of America. (ANY & ALL) As you Protect The Hospitals In your service to Protect the Country, Why can`t they “Pitch in” By seeing to your Healthcare Needs.
The Veteran is as much the Cost of War as Bullets, Beans, & Bandaids. IT IS Possible. And IT IS COMING. But, YOU HAVE TO DEMAND IT. You are the only Cost Factor NOT considered, When The Govt is Doing the War Dance around the fire. It`s (You) That is MORE Important to war than The Weapon. Also, You are the ONE thing they care the least about. You can always be replaced. As long as it stays that way YOU Will continue to Suffer the indignity of being pushed aside, Forgotten. Every War will have Cost for the next 60 years of that veterans life.
If they COUNTED THAT COST. Maybe they`d THINK A BIT HARDER ON GOING TO WAR. Dying to make Weapons Maker Owners & Investors Rich. While you keep getting the Shitty end of the stick. As long as you take it You`ll get that end. I Guarantee it. ONLY “YOU” CAN CHANGE THAT.
The Cleveland VA is one of the most corrupt VA administrations that exist in this country. I lived in Ohio for 38 years and the VA system in Cleveland is the worst excuse for a health care facility that exists. What a mistake. What in the hell is wrong with the Govt.?
The incestuous relationship that the news media has with Obama has once again been exposed.
CBS and NBC have COMPLETELY IGNORED the new revelations in the VA scandal that surfaced TODAY that ten other VA facilities in Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana were cooking the books on waiting times.
Only ABC gave a brief mention of these new developments.
Some veterans want to give Obama a pass on this VA scandal.
But what if it was YOU that was being denied timely access to a VA doctor?
How are YOU going to know if your VA has been outed for cooking the books if the media protects Obama from this scandal by not reporting this new information?
Thank God for Ben’s blog, for being the conduit of detailed information about how the VA is screwing veterans everyday!
OBAMA THINKS HE CAN MAKE YOU FORGET ABOUT YOUR VETERANS’ PRIVILEGE!
I would really like to forget that Obama is President!
I know how you feel Glenn because I felt the same about President George W. Bush.
I agree with both of you. I regret voting for the Bushes. And I am happy that I did not vote for Obama.
For me personally, I will only vote for Main Street leaders who ACTUALLY do something for veterans EVERY DAY instead of paying lip service to them on Veterans and Memorial days.
No more Bushes, Obamas, or Clintons or me.
Every single Presidency of Bush, Obama, and Clinton used and abused veterans for their own political gain.
And now new Bushes, Obamas, and Clintons are ready to hoodwink veterans again in the coming years.
With Ben’s blog, many veterans are waking up to the blatant and subtle hypocrisy of these crooked and depraved politicians.
I’ve smelled the roses of truth, and it smells like a new opportunity to finally stop the evils being done against us veterans.
The truth that veterans are much, much better off without the stink of Bushes, Obamas, or Clintons permeating the White House.
Smell the truth, people, smell the truth…
Cosgrove is definitely a unique candidate. He is not a political hack (contributed to Romney and not Obama), but has supported Republicans and Democrats. He understands the legal and economic sides of healthcare as well being known to holding subordinates accountable. He is from the private sector and, except while in the Air Force making him also a war veteran, has never been in government. On the other side of the coin, he is a cost cutter, has an obesity obsession (aka Michelle Obama and Bloomberg) and supports a good portion of the ACA. He may find the bureaucracy too much to deal with. I say give the guy a shot, if he wants it. It would be interesting to see if a man who is a proven executive in a large private health care system can transfer his abilities to the VA. Maybe it is the test to find out if the VA is even viable?
Personally I don’t see people or for that fact anybody suffering from Obamacare/Affordable Care Act. With all due respect to @American Veteran but more people are doing better with the ACA than not and for the 1st time ever you can’t be denied health insurance for a previous condition and can’t be abused by the insurance companies. If your state has premiums that are too high and unaffordable then its your states political system that bears the responsibility to fix.
Hopefully this new Secretary of VA wont be a business as usual leader and have the balls to shake the ole VA network into shape so that the customers/VETERANS are better served by the VA employees who right now seem to think that the Veterans they serve are lesser citizens than they attitude! Secondly, we all know that he must get Congress and Senate to pump more money into the VA system in order to get a more VETERANS oriented VA system, if the new Secretary doesn’t have the nuts to go to the money givers and demand money and power then the system will remain the same as usual.
Personally, judging from the way the system is still being run….I have no confidence in the system changing for the better of VETERANS and we as VETERANS need to continue holding the VA and our government feet to the fire. Continuing to voice our concerns to the American taxpayers and our political leadership during the election years is the most positive way for us to be heard and get the attention the VETERANS and VA into the American taxpayers ears.
With all due respect, you are wrong.
Here’s the National Center for Policy Analysis’ research report The Biggest Myths of Obamacare:
Myth No. 1: If you like your health plan, you can keep it.
Myth No. 2:If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor.
Myth No. 3: There is an “employer mandate” to offer affordable coverage.
Myth No. 4: Health reform will lower the cost of health insurance by $2,500 a year for the average family.
Myth No. 5: There is an “individual mandate” that ensures everyone has health coverage.
Myth No. 6: Individuals cannot be denied individual coverage due to pre-existing conditions.
Myth No. 7: Health insurers no longer can cancel a policy after an insured individual gets sick.
Myth No. 8: Medicare has been strengthened.
Judging by all the lies and deceptions Obama weaves daily to confuse the low and no information voters, it would not surprise me that you might not be aware that the Obamacare you want on all of us is actually the anti-Obamacare that targets you and your family in an extremely inhumane way.
I trust this research report will reveal the Obama propaganda machine to you.
DO NOT LET OBAMA MAKE YOU CHECK YOUR VETERANS’ PRIVILEGE!
[The link to the research report with all the facts rebutting Obama’s lies follows]
National Center for Policy Analysis research report:
https://www.ncpa.org/pub/ib144
Well, now we know why Obama will probably pick Cosgrove to be the next VA Secretary.
Before the deeply unpopular Unaffordable Care Act, “Obamacare”, was shoved down our throats, Obama was advocating for a single-payer healthcare system in America.
Obama wants a single-payer healthcare system because he believes that a government of faceless bureaucrats knows better how to manage your health than you do.
When Obamacare was passed, Cosgrove was already out front and center predicting that Obamacare would lead to a single-payer system.
Remember when Obama promised that premiums for veterans’ families would not go up or that veterans’ family members could keep their doctors under Obamacare?
Well, we now know that Obama lied to us.
The poor and broke veteran taxpayers of America are now shocked at the damage Obamacare has wrought to them through unaffordable premiums and sky-high deductibles, and these same veterans are outraged that their family members cannot keep the doctors of their choice.
And so what is Cosgrove’s reaction to the negative consequences veterans’ families are now experiencing under Obamacare?
He shrugs his shoulders and says single-payer is inevitable.
If Obama lied to bring us the Unaffordable Care Act, just imagine the lies he will tell to justify a single-payer system.
A single-payer system that on its face takes away an individual’s choice in their healthcare decisions, and that at its very core is inherently evil for its subjugation of the individual to a government slave lord.
It is bad enough that so many Americans are suffering under Obamacare, but to bring Cosgrove to the VA would mean that a central tenet of Obamacare will have come to pass.
And that central tenet is “The end may justify the means as long as there is something that justifies the end.” (to quote Trotsky)
Cosgrove will help eliminate the VA through a trimming of its workforce and cutting costs everywhere.
Cosgrove has already threatened to do the same at his esteemed Clinic due to the negative repercussions of Obamacare.
And the end of Obamacare will be a ruthlessly run single-payer system championed by Obama, and run by the likes of a Cosgrove.
There will be no VA.
There will only be THE SYSTEM.
A SYSTEM where the veteran is treated like a number, then ignored, and finally forgotten.
If you value quality health care, then speak out against Cosgrove becoming the VA Secretary.
DO NOT SURRENDER YOUR VETERANS’ PRIVILEGE TO OBAMA!
ONLY TIME WILL TELL IF DR. COSGROVE IS A “WOLF” OR “SHEPHERD”.