The Denver Post editorial board got it right earlier this month when they wrote: “Colorado veterans deserve competent, consistent care in the Eastern Colorado Health Care System.”
I fully agree. And that’s exactly why I appointed interim leadership at VA’s flagship location in Aurora while VA reviews concerns raised by employees regarding issues of workplace culture, compliance, and overall organizational health.
Veterans deserve timely access to world-class health care and earned benefits, and I won’t settle for anything less. When I see a potential for wrongdoing, I take actions to make it right. When I hear of potential wrongs, I listen – to both the accuser and the accused, and I refer matters to appropriate oversight bodies for investigation.
I took similar, bold action earlier this summer when I became aware of concerns at the Montana VA Health Care System.
I have a tremendous and privileged obligation to the veterans in Colorado, Montana, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyoming. Two overriding principles guide how I lead the VA Rocky Mountain Network, our 20,000 employees, and the 750,000 eligible Veterans we serve.
First, outcomes drive everything we do at VA – because veterans, not us, are the ultimate judges of our success. We may have a few blemishes, but I will not cease to correct areas that fail to meet the highest standards of care and safety of our patients.
Second, transparency is fundamental to everything we do. My team and I will work closely with the interim VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System leadership team and collaboratively with all offices and agencies to support their investigation to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and integrity of our health care operations.
In addition to the new, interim leadership team, I am appointing a special advisor to conduct a comprehensive review of all areas within the system. This special advisor will report directly to me and will be charged with identifying and reviewing areas that require special attention.
My goal is to accelerate our journey to become a High Reliability Organization (HRO). HROs experience fewer accidents, despite operating in complex, high-risk environments. Our veterans in the eastern Colorado region deserve the safest, highest-quality care possible, and our employees deserve the best environment, training, resources, and systems to provide that care. HROs utilize the concept of Just Culture, which means any front-line worker has the power to identify something unsafe, “stop the line,” and report it on behalf of veteran safety. That’s exactly what happened in VA ECHCS and what I expect from our staff.
I embrace the responsibility to oversee the health care of the 100,000 veterans in Eastern Colorado and the 3,000 employees who deliver that care. Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors have served and sacrificed for our country, and now, it’s our job to serve them as well as they’ve served us. All veterans deserve timely access to world-class health care, and I won’t settle for anything less.
Sunaina Kumar-Giebel is the director of the VA Rocky Mountain Network.
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