By John Dempsey, WLS-AM News
(CHICAGO) Federal investigators have found that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Inspector General failed to properly investigate claims of wrongdoing by the V-A, concerning allegations of delayed care to veterans that were made in 2014.
U.S. Special Counsel Carolyn Lerner wrote to President Barack Obama and Congress on February 25th, that the Inspector General’s probe into the allegations was “deficient.”
Germaine Clarno, a Social Worker and Union Representative at Hines V-A hospital in west suburban Maywood, talked about the Special Counsel’s findings on “The Big John Howell Show” on WLS.
Clarno is a whistleblower who first alerted the public in 2014 that supervisors at the hospital were hiding delays in veterans getting their treatment.
She was asked during the radio interview if she now feels vindicated, saying “I feel vindicated, and I think other whistleblowers around the country do as well, because it’s something we’ve always been screaming about, that the O-I-G is not impartial. It’s the O-I-G, it’s the V-A inspecting itself, and as whistleblowers we’ve known that for a very long time.”
Hear this exclusive interview from Monday’s “Big” John Howell Show on WLS.
Clarno appeared on the program with Dr. Lisa Nee, a former cardiologist at Hines who, when she started working at the hospital in 2011, noticed several boxes of echo cardiogram tests on hundreds of veterans, which had still not been read.
“I mean these tests were ordered, ordered for a reason, the taxpayers pay it for the veterans and no one’s reading them. In any other private system that’s fraud, it’s against the law, and it’s punishable.”
Clarno also had criticism for U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, and Chicago area Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth, the former head of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs.
She said of Durbin , “Well, all I got was delays from his staff. I had asked to meet with him personally one on one numerous times. I mean I have emails upon emails, my requests upon requests to meet with him personally to tell him about what’s going on at Hines. And I never was granted that opportunity.”
Durbin’s Spokeswoman Christina Mulka told WLS Clarno’s criticism is not valid, saying “…the accusation that Senator Durbin’s office has been unresponsive is simply not true. Senator Durbin took action after hearing from several whistleblowers from Hines VA Hospital. Since February 2013, Senator Durbin has shared information with the Department of Veterans Affairs, which spurred the VA OIG to launch an investigation into the whistleblowers’ allegations at Hines. Senator Durbin has also written to Secretary McDonald on a number of occasions regarding quality of care at Hines, and following the February 25, OSC report regarding wait times called for a meeting with him. Though Senator Durbin has not met personally with Ms. Clarno, she has met with members of his staff in person and on the phone and they have briefed Senator Durbin on her claims.”
Regarding Duckworth, who is now running for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate, Clarno said, “Well, you know that’s the frustration. I went to her because I am one of her constituents. I went to her numerous times, emailed many times, trying to elicit her help on what was going on at Hines. I never felt that she wanted to hear exactly what was going on, and I don’t know why.”
Clarno also said of Duckworth, ” You know, we had the facts, we had the data, Doctor Nee and I met with her back, last fall, so I brought Dr. Nee and we had piles of evidence to share with her. It was disheartening when we were at the meeting and we were talking about the O-I-G report that was done in cardiology and she had not read the report. So it was really upsetting….. I really thought going to Tammy Duckworth, that she would be the one who would stand up and say ‘this has gotta stop’.”
Ben Garmisa, communications director for Duckworth, said in a statement to WLS News; “Advocating for Veterans and their care has become Congresswoman Duckworth’s mission since losing both her legs in an RPG attack on her Black Hawk in Iraq, and it is something she takes very seriously. Since receiving troubling reports from Ms. Clarno regarding Hines VA, she has doggedly pursued them by helping launch a VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigation and a separate review by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC), the independent federal agency tasked with protecting federal whistleblowers, among several other actions.
“Even before the OSC suggested the VA was stonewalling and focusing on discrediting whistleblowers at the expense of Veteran care, Congresswoman Duckworth had publicly called for a Congressional investigation into the OIG’s poor transparency record. Retaliation against whistleblowers is not acceptable to her and she is seeking a face-to-face meeting with VA Secretary Robert McDonald to highlight the critical importance of protecting them. Congresswoman Duckworth will continue working to improve quality of care for Veterans in Illinois and across the country, including working with anyone who reports wrongdoing to see that our Veterans are treated with the respect and care they have earned.”
Incumbent Republican Senator Mark Kirk issued a statement on Clarno’s criticism of Duckworth, saying “The accounts of these courageous whistleblowers detail yet another chapter of Rep. Duckworth silencing critics to protect the bureaucracy, her own legacy, and her party.”
@ 2016 WLS News
