Veterans groups and Republicans were critical of president’s omission of scandal-plagued Carl T Hayden medical center from itinerary during January visit

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Barack Obama visited the Phoenix, Arizona, veterans hospital on Friday for the first time since physicians alleged last year that veterans died there while waiting for healthcare, telling veterans it was clear there was still more work to be done.

Obama said that while VA Secretary Robert McDonald is “chipping away” at the problem, “It’s important that veterans know that somebody’s got their backs, and that if there are problems that we’re not being defensive about it, not hiding it.”

Obama met with veterans, VA employees and elected officials, including Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake, Arizona’s two Republican senators. He said lawmakers specifically raised questions about the slow pace of implementing a new law meant to increase health care choices for veterans. Mental health and suicide prevention are also areas of concern, he said.

“Trust is something you can lose real quick,” Obama said, promoting the need to restore trust and confidence in the VA system. But, he added, “Every veteran I talked to today said that the actual care they received once in the system was outstanding.”

The scandal began when physicians complained about Phoenix’s Carl T Hayden VA medical center, where Obama will hear a report on reforms developed by hospital officials and the new VA secretary, McDonald.

The subsequent scandal and investigation cost a veteran affairs secretary his job, revealed systemic mismanagement and found that staff members had falsified wait times for veterans.

In January, a presidential trip to Phoenix that omitted the hospital from its itinerary drew scorn from veterans groups and Republican critics of Obama. Pete Hegseth, head of Concerned Veterans for America, accused the administration of “repeatedly [trying] to downplay the scandal” and urged Obama to make “a one-mile detour and [visit] the scandal-plagued VA hospital”.

“By visiting the VA hospital in Phoenix, and meeting with the veterans, employees and whistleblowers of the facility that were at the epicenter of a national scandal, President Obama would send the long-overdue signal that he is willing to take this issue head on,” Hegseth said.

The Republican senator John McCain, who also criticized Obama at the time, released a statement this week grudgingly praising the president for “finally” visiting the hospital.

“Our veterans community in Arizona has been deeply disappointed by the Obama administration’s slow implementation of the bipartisan VA reform legislation passed last year,” McCain said.

McCain added that he found it “disturbing” that Obama’s 2016 budget “proposes to divert funds away from the Choice Card program to other VA programs”.

Obama is expected to meet with McCain, veterans, hospital employees and elected officials, in addition to McDonald.

Last April, whistleblowers at the hospital revealed that workers there had concealed chronic delays for providing care by falsifying documents. Investigations last year found that VA workers throughout the country had falsified documents while supervisors looked the other way. While veterans waited for treatment, the reports said managers who falsely appeared to stay on schedule providing treatment for patients had received bonuses.

An inquiry into misconduct by hospital staffers in Phoenix had to be reset earlier this year after an official leading the inquiry was found to have a conflict of interest.

Sharon Helman was fired in November from her role as director after it emerged that she had accepted inappropriate gifts from the healthcare industry. Others have only been suspended.

Representative Jeff Miller, chairman of the committee on veterans affairs, in February urged the department to fire more officials at the hospital, saying to do otherwise “is nothing more than a waste of taxpayer dollars”. McDonald countered by saying the officials deserved “due process”.

Last year Obama signed a $16bn reform bill to overhaul the VA. Critics say the massive restructuring has moved at a glacial pace and veterans continue to lack appropriate healthcare. The law also limits the time VA employees have to appeal firings for alleged wrongdoing.

On Thursday, Miller complained that “the vast majority of this money remains unspent and the expanded accountability authority has rarely been used”.

The White House said this week that Obama will announce an advisory committee, including members of veterans groups, the government, academia and the private healthcare industry, to counsel the VA as it continues to reform.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.