Washington D.C. Pays Visit To Central Alabama VA Hospital
[gtxvideo vid=”l3H218vo” playlist=”” pid=”XiOflQdH” thumb=”http://player.gtxcel.com/thumbs/l3H218vo.jpg” vtitle=”VA stuff”]
An important member of the national Veterans Affairs department paid a visit to the Central Alabama VA hospital.
The hospital has had some trouble over the last year, with allegations concerning everything from long wait times to negligent staff.
Sloan Gibson is the Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs. He says even though there have been improvements, it’s not enough.
The new expansion to the Montgomery VA is about 150 thousand square feet of space.
There have been a lot of new hires and improved appointment wait times, but Gibson says there’s still a lot to be done.
“What I’m seeing in the data is that we’re not seeing that growth in the care being delivered. We do see that growth coming from the care in the community but it’s relatively small in relation to the 350 thousand completed appointments a year,” said Gibson.
He also met with Congresswoman Martha Roby to discuss problems at the hospital.
Roby has been very vocal about veterans issues.
She talks with Gibson on a regular basis over the phone, but she says some important things came out of the meeting.
“And I believe that we are very very close to getting a permanent director. To have that permanent leadership in place I think will posture us to move quickly towards our goal,” said Rep. Roby.
Finding the right people was an important part of the deputy secretary’s goals as well.
The hospital has been hiring to fill new positions at the expansion, but there’s about a 10 percent turnover rate at the facility.
“I fully expect that hiring is going to continue here. One of the things we’ve been talking about over the last several weeks are some of the authorities that the folks here are exercising now to be able to expedite those hiring processes,” said Gibson.
