PERU – Two employees have been fired and another suspended at the Peru VA outpatient clinic following an investigation that found employees there changed veterans’ pain medication without doing physical assessments and scheduled appointments without patients’ knowledge.
The Veterans Health Administration detailed the disciplinary actions in a response to a letter submitted by U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski and members of the U.S. House Committee on Veterans Affairs asking for more information about the investigation.
The VA reported two employees were removed from the clinic on May 21, according to a copy of the response letter obtained by the Kokomo Tribune.
The Associate Chief of Staff for Primary Care at the clinic was given a summary suspension and temporarily removed from clinical responsibilities and given administrative duties. One other employee was issued a reprimand.
The response letter didn’t identify the two terminated employees. However, Miami County Veteran’s Service Officer Jay Kendall confirmed the two workers were Gene Herd, a nurse practitioner, and Jennifer Neal, an appointment scheduler.
The firings came after the VA Office of Medical Inspector led an investigation into the clinic in December based on accusations of improper care and scheduling improprieties reported to Walorski and former Congressman Jeff Miller.
The investigation found one employee at the Peru clinic had tapered opioid pain medication for at least six veterans without a face-to-face clinical appointment or physical assessment, which violates both Indiana state law and VA policy.
The VA team also determined patients were being scheduled without their knowledge and often cancelled by the clinic on the day of the appointment. Policy prohibits scheduling an appointment without negotiating the date and time with the patient.
But many veterans served by the Peru VA clinic are upset by the termination of Herd and Neal, and said steps taken by the VA to correct the issues haven’t gone far enough.
During a standing-room-only town hall meeting Thursday held by the VA Northern Indiana Health Care System, area veterans packed into the Peru Public Library to protest the firings and lodge complaints about gaps in their care.
One veteran at the meeting credited Herd with saving his life. Others said she was the best practitioner they ever had at the clinic, and their quality of care dropped off significantly once she was terminated.
Over half the crowd raised their hands when Veteran Service Officer Kendall asked how many people had attended the meeting out of solidarity with Herd.
Kendall said in an interview Friday the packed meeting was a show of support for Herd and Neal, who were used by the VA as “scapegoats” for the violations identified by the investigation, he said.
“They fired somebody for a speeding ticket,” he said. “This was a minimal infraction. There was no malice involved. [Herd] did something she shouldn’t have done, but that should not have resulted in her being fired.”
Herd is now appealing her termination and is set for an arbitration hearing with a judge, Kendall said.
He said the Peru facility ultimately isn’t to blame for the issues unearthed by the investigation. He said the problem largely stems from the fact that the clinic is understaffed and overbooked with patients, and employees can’t keep up with the load.
At the town hall meeting, Dr. Wayne McBride, chief of staff for the northern Indiana VA, said the Peru clinic should be fully staffed with three physicians by the end of the year. He said officials are also currently interviewing candidates to manage the facility – a position which has been vacant for two years.
Kendall contributed many of the issues at the clinic to the lack of a manager, and said he was hopeful filing the position would help the quality of care at the facility.
“It’s potentially positive, but I just hope this manager can do his or her job,” he said. “The manager is the focal point between the patients and the staff, so that person has to go out and make an effort to help people.”
Rep. Walorski said she also had many unanswered questions following the violations uncovered by the investigation.
“In order to keep our promise to veterans and provide the timely, quality care they earned, we need to fully understand what led to these failures and what is being done to prevent improper treatment and scheduling practices in the future,” she said in a statement. “I will continue working with the VA and the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee to find solutions that will improve staffing, training, and the overall culture at VA facilities.”