Newhouse Tours VA Health Centers, Holds Listening Session with Veterans
Visits highlight problems with VA and Electronic Health Record Management System rollout
WASHINGTON, D.C. – This week, Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) invited Rep. Mike Bost, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, to visit Central Washington and hear directly from Central Washington veterans and their healthcare providers about the issues they’re facing—particularly with the rollout of the new Electronic Health Records system at the VA.
“Over the few days I have spoken with numerous physicians, administrators, and staff at our local VA facilities in Richland and Walla Walla and hosted an informative listening session with Central Washington veterans. Their messages were unified: the new Electronic Health Records system at the VA is not providing the care our veterans need and deserve,” said Rep. Newhouse. “I am committed to ensuring our veterans, the men and women who have put their lives on the line for us, receive this care where and when they need it. I call on the Biden Administration to immediately deploy resources to the Spokane and Walla Walla VA hospitals to ensure no more records are lost and no more veterans are harmed. Meanwhile, I will continue my work with the House Veterans Affairs Committee to hold Cerner and the VA accountable for their failures and find solutions to address these immediate problems.”
“It was an honor to visit with veterans in Washington state this week with my friend, Rep. Newhouse. It’s vitally important that we – as Members of Congress – hear directly from the veterans who use VA healthcare about the problems and roadblocks they face when accessing their earned care,” said Ranking Member Bost. “One thing is abundantly clear: the electronic health records modernization program should not move forward anywhere else until the problems in Washington state are fixed. Veterans and dedicated VA employees in Central Washington once again made this crystal clear, and Rep. Newhouse and I are taking that charge back to DC with us.”
Background:
In April, Rep. Newhouse questioned officials from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) at the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Technology Modernization hearing after receiving reports issued by the Inspector General and hearing complaints from veterans in Central Washington and throughout Washington State citing issues related to the rollout of the new Electronic Health Record system in Walla Walla and Spokane and the impacts it has had on veteran’s care.
In June, details on a draft report from the VA’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) broke news headlines, outlining that not only did the new Electronic Health Record (EHR) system rolled out at Spokane (and now Walla Walla)’s VA hospitals cause harm to at least 148 veterans, but that Cerner Corporation, which owns the contract for this system, knew their system was flawed and withheld that information from the Department of Veterans Affairs before the system launched. Additionally, there is evidence that the VA knew about these issues and chose to move forward with the contract anyway.
###