BOSTON — Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin has removed two top officials at New Hampshire‘s only veterans hospital and has ordered a review of the facility amid allegations of “dangerously substandard care.”
The Boston Globe reported that 11 physicians and medical employees alleged the Manchester VA Medical Center was endangering patients. They described a fly-infested operating room and surgical instruments that weren’t always sterilized.
The Office of the Special Counsel, a federal whistle-blower agency, found “substantial likelihood” the allegations were true and ordered an investigation, which began in January.
Following the newspaper report Sunday, Shulkin removed hospital Director Danielle Ocker and Chief of Staff James Schlosser. He ordered a more thorough review.
A VA spokesman told the newspaper Ocker and Schlosser would be assigned other duties in the interim.
