Most Recent Posts

WASHINGTON (AP) — About 10 percent of veterans seeking medical care at VA hospitals and clinics have to wait at least 30 days for an appointment — more than twice the percentage of veterans the government said last week were forced to endure long waits, the acting Veterans Affairs secretary said Wednesday.

Sloan Gibson said the higher number of veterans waiting 30 days or more is revealed in a report due out Thursday. He called the increase unfortunate, but said it was probably an indication that more reliable data was being reported by VA schedulers, rather than an actual increase in veteran wait times.

"I don't like that we've got more veterans waiting, but at least we're getting better data" as the VA seeks to address widespread problems of long patient waiting times and falsified records to mask frequent long delays, Gibson said.

A report issued June 9 said about 4 percent of 6 million appointments scheduled at VA facilities nationwide showed wait times longer than 30 days. That total has jumped to about 10 percent in the new report, Gibson said.

While he still is not 100 percent confident that all wait times listed on VA computers are accurate, "I have vastly greater confidence" in the list than he did in the past, when manipulation of patient times was widespread across the VA system, Gibson said.

"We're getting better data integrity," he said after touring the Washington VA Medical Center, one of dozens identified in last week's report as having long patient waiting times.

Gibson's comments came as the House and Senate moved toward passing legislation aimed at making it easier for patients enduring lengthy delays for initial visits to get VA-paid treatment from local doctors instead. The House and Senate approved similar bills last week, and lawmakers have vowed to move quickly to send a compromise bill to President Barack Obama for his signature.

The House approved a resolution appointing eight Republicans and six Democrats to serve on a conference committee to work with the Senate on a compromise. The House delegation is headed by Reps. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., and Mike Michaud, D-Maine. Miller chairs the Veterans Affairs Committee, while Michaud is the panel's senior Democrat.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said he was confident House negotiators "will usher these reforms to the president's desk while continuing our work to hold (Obama) accountable" to address systemic problems at the VA.

In a related development, Gibson said Wednesday he has directed all senior VA officials overseeing hospitals and regions to conduct monthly in-person reviews of scheduling practices at every clinic in their jurisdiction. The onsite inspections should include observing daily scheduling processes and interacting with scheduling staff to ensure all policies are being followed to deliver timely care, Gibson said.

"Our top priority is getting veterans off wait lists and into clinics," he said. "Veterans must trust their health care system, and these reviews are an important step toward restoring integrity in all our scheduling activities."

The directive came amid a growing uproar over patients dying while awaiting VA treatment and mounting evidence that workers falsified or omitted appointment schedules to mask frequent long delays. The resulting election-year firestorm forced VA Secretary Eric Shinseki to resign three weeks ago.

An audit released last week showed that more than 57,000 veterans have had to wait at least three months for initial appointments. An additional 64,000 veterans who asked for appointments over the past decade never got them.

The department's inspector general said at least 17 veterans died while awaiting appointments at VA facilities in the Phoenix area, and Gibson said 18 Phoenix area veterans identified on a different list have died. It was not clear whether there was any overlap on the two lists, and officials said they can't say whether the delay in getting VA treatment caused any of the deaths.

More than 8 million of the nation's 21 million veterans are now enrolled in VA health care, although only about 6.5 million seek VA treatment every year.

In a scathing report last month, the VA's inspector general described a process in which VA schedulers routinely skirted now-abandoned guidelines intended to ensure that patients were seen within 14 days of their desired date for an appointment. Schedulers often selected the next available appointment and used that as the purported desired date, even if it was months away, the IG said, adding that the practice allowed numerous — and false — zero-day wait times.

Thirteen percent of schedulers in a facility-by-facility report on 731 hospitals and outpatient clinics reported being told by supervisors to falsify appointment schedules to make patient waits appear shorter.

___

Follow Matthew Daly on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/MatthewDalyWDC

Chile beat Spain, 2-0, in group play Wednesday, knocking the defending champs out of soccer's World Cup.

Both goals came in the first half: Eduardo Vargas scored in the 20th minute and Charles Aranguiz in the 44th.

Spain suffered a huge loss in its first game, falling 5-1 to the Netherlands on Friday. It was the worst defeat of a defending champion in World Cup history, according to CNN. Spain still faces Australia in group play Monday, but it is nearly impossible for the team to advance to the next round because of its two losses.

Netherlands secured a spot in the next round by defeating Australia, 3-2, earlier Wednesday. The team faces Chile on Monday, finishing out play in Group B.

STARKE, Fla. (AP) — Florida has executed a man who fatally stabbed his wife and her young son in 1985.

It is the third U.S. execution in less than 24 hours since a botched April lethal injection in Oklahoma.

The governor's office says John Ruthell Henry was pronounced dead at 7:43 p.m. Wednesday.

The 63-year-old was convicted and sentenced to death for fatally stabbing his wife, Suzanne Henry.

He also was convicted of fatally stabbing Suzanne Henry's 5-year-old son hours after the woman's murder.

Henry previously had pleaded no contest to second-degree murder for stabbing his common-law wife, Patricia Roddy, in 1976. He served less than eight years and was released in 1983.

The U.S. Supreme Court turned down a last-second appeal by attorneys who argued Henry wasn't mentally stable enough to comprehend his death sentence.

MANAUS, Brazil (AP) — Mario Mandzukic scored two goals Wednesday to keep Croatia in the mix at the World Cup with a 4-0 win over 10-man Cameroon, which will be going home after the group stage.

Mandzukic, who returned to the team at the Arena da Amazonia after sitting out the opening loss to Brazil through suspension, headed in a corner from Danijel Pranjic in the 61st minute and then knocked in a rebound in the 73rd of the Group A game.

Ivan Perisic also scored one goal and made another for Ivica Olic.

Cameroon was reduced to 10 men after midfielder Alex Song was given a red card for elbowing Mandzukic in the back in an off-the-ball incident in the 40th minute.

Cameroon started without the injured Samuel Eto'o, the team's best player. And the frustration within the team boiled over in injury time when Benoit Assou-Ekotto head-butted teammate Benjamin Moukandjo in front of their goal.

"It's unimaginable. I saw this happen and I need to find out exactly what happened, why exactly these two players exploded," Cameroon coach Volker Finke said. "I really hate to see that. It's not the image of Cameroon I want to project."

Croatia now has its future in its own hands. If the 1998 World Cup semifinalists beat Mexico on Monday, they will guarantee themselves a spot in the second round. The Mexicans will advance with only a draw.

Cameroon is out, however, and can only play spoiler in its final match against five-time champion Brazil, also on Monday. If the 1990 World Cup quarterfinalists beat Brazil, the host country could still advance or be forced out of the tournament on goal difference.

Darijo Srna started the move for the first goal, whipping a cross into the area from the right in the 11th minute. Mandzukic and Nicolas Nkoulou then collided while going for it, but the ball popped loose to Perisic. The Croatia midfielder stepped up and coolly slid the ball into the path of Olic to tap in.

Perisic did it all himself early in the second half, beating Cameroon defender Dany Nounkeu to a long pass from goalkeeper Charles Itandje and taking it all the way back to where it came from.

Perisic, with Nounkeu chasing him, ran into the area down the left and gave himself a tough angle before slipping his shot between Itandje and the near post in the 48th.

Mandzukic was left unmarked to head home Croatia's third goal and followed up with the simplest of tap-ins when Itandje spilled a shot from Eduardo.

Cameroon knew it needed points against Croatia, and the team came out fast in an effort to take the early lead. Several dangerous attacks down the right flank caused concern to the Croatia defense early, but none of them materialized into any real danger.

A few late chances came close, but nothing got past Croatia goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa.

"The team tried with only 10 players, but the second goal arrived very early in the second half, unfortunately," Finke said. "After that it was an uphill battle."

The loss of Eto'o, who came to Brazil with a right knee injury, was a blow to the team, however. Although Cameroon still went on the attack even without their best attacker, the finishing class of the former Chelsea and Barcelona striker was missing.

The loss of Song didn't help, either.

The midfielder, well away from the ball, was running back from the Croatia end when he lashed out and elbowed Mandzukic in the back. Referee Pedro Proenca of Portugal immediately pulled out his red card and sent Song off.

Song is the cousin of Cameroon great Rigobert Song, one of only two players to be sent off at two different World Cups. The other is Zinedine Zidane.