Durbin: ‘Dramatic change’ needed at state VA hospital

ST. LOUIS – Congress might have to step in if “dramatic change” isn’t forthcoming at a southern Illinois Veteran’s Affairs hospital where major surgeries have been suspended for more than two years after a spike in patient deaths, Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin said.

But Durbin, the Senate’s second-highest ranking Democrat, said he was willing to give VA Secretary Eric Shinseki until next month to explain how he would fix nagging problems at the Marion VA Medical Center.

Durbin and other members of Illinois’ congressional delegation met with Shinseki last week after the VA inspector general released a report outlining serious problems, including physicians performing procedures without proper authorization and inadequate assessment of patient deaths. The lawmakers met Monday with Inspector General George Opfer.

“I want to give Gen. Shinseki a chance, ... [but] if we don’t see dramatic change as a result of it, then Congress is going to have to consider other alternatives,” Durbin told The Associated Press before Monday’s meeting. “So the question now is, ‘What will the general do about it?’ ”

Cathy Gromek, a spokeswoman for Opfer’s office, declined to comment about Monday’s meeting. But Durbin told the AP that Assistant Inspector General John Daigh Jr. called quality management at Marion’s VA hospital the worst of 50 hospitals he has looked at this year.

The Marion VA – which serves veterans in parts of Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky – has been under intense scrutiny since August 2007, when a surgeon resigned three days after a patient bled to death following gallbladder surgery. All inpatient surgeries were suspended within a month, and the site’s director, chief of staff, surgical chief and anesthesiologist were moved to other positions, placed on leave or quit.

Investigators found at least nine deaths between October 2006 and March 2007 resulted from substandard care and another 10 patients died after receiving questionable care that complicated their health.

After last week’s report, Shinseki said he was sending a top-level quality-management team to Marion for a roughly six-week stay. The VA also appointed retired VA administrator James Roseborough as the hospital’s interim administrator. He replaced Warren Hill, who has accepted a VA job in Wisconsin.