Government and Regulations
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert A. McDonald spoke with reporters on February 24, 2015, concerning a brewing controversy. While being filmed by CBS News in Los Angeles last month, Secretary McDonald falsely told a homeless Special Forces veteran that he had served in Special Forces.
His motivation? “In an attempt to connect with that veteran to make him feel comfortable, I incorrectly stated that I, too, had been in Special Forces. That was wrong. I have no excuse.”
“I apologize to those who may have been offended by my misstatement,” he continued.
CBS captured last month’s exchange between Secretary McDonald and the homeless veteran on camera during the annual PIT (point-in-time) count of homeless veterans in the Skid Row section of Los Angeles. [Scroll down to the end of the article to view CBS coverage.]
Lawmakers and veterans groups have accepted Secretary McDonald's explanation, although Chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee Representative Jeff Miller noted his disappointment, highlighting the need for VA to "regain the trust of the veterans and taxpayers it is charged with serving."
The White House also has accepted Secretary McDonald’s apology. “We take him at his word and expect that this will not impact the important work he’s doing to promote the health and well-being of our nation’s veterans,” the White House said.
Related: Committed to Showing Results at the VA
The health and well-being of our nation’s veterans was the pinnacle subject of Secretary McDonald’s hiring in July 2014. His experience in the military and as chairman, president, and chief executive officer at Proctor & Gamble Company was called on to right the wrongs of his predecessor, Eric K. Shinseki, following substantiated claims that a mismanaged system allowed for inordinately long wait times and secret wait lists that resulted in patient deaths.
“We at VA are working to restore trust,” Secretary McDonald reiterated during his February 24 statement. “We remain very focused on continuing our progress to better serve veterans.”
Related: Carolyn Clancy on Improving Veterans’ Access to Care
Veteran access-to-care issues are a serious and ongoing problem throughout the VHA. One project now underway to redirect this status quo is the MyVA initative, a reorganization of the VISN system to a 5-region framework, by June 2015. Also through the MyVA initiative, Secretary McDonald seeks to ensure that veterans have a clear understanding of VA services, as well as to simplify and streamline the process of accessing those services.
