“From administrative standpoint, from a cultural standpoint, retaliation is alive and well,” Mitchell said in a Senate subcommittee hearing.
The problems concerning VA management and practices at its medical centers came into focus after an April 2014 CNN report disclosed that 40 military veterans died awaiting doctor’s appointments in the Veteran Affairs hospital in Phoenix.
Many of the veterans were placed on a secret waiting list, which differed from another list shared with Washington officials, according to the report.
Mitchell’s whistleblowing helped disclose the facility’s wrongdoings, but she warned that many of her colleagues are still scared to speak out because of fear they may lose their jobs.
Mitchell argued that at present, the VA suffers from a corrupt, retaliatory administration whose practices make no sense.
“I hope that Congress can inspire some common sense within the VA system,” Mitchell stated.
Unless the Inspector General, Mitchell also said, can state specifically how it is going to protect the confidentiality while still allowing the investigation to move forward, “I wouldn’t believe a single word they said.”
The Department of Veteran Affairs runs medical centers throughout the United States that provide healthcare services for US military veterans and their families.
