Former Workers Speak Out About Care At VA Hospital

Former VA employees told Target 11’s Rick Early that requests for specific medical tests were destroyed.

A former VA employee agreed to talk to Earle as long as his identity was concealed.

The former worker told Earle that he was instructed to destroy doctor requests for MRI scans, a test that can detect serious medical problems.

The VA denied that any requests were destroyed, but Target 11 interviewed four former workers who say the records were destroyed.

The former employees told Target 11 that the VA hospital in Oakland has the only MRI machine in the region for veterans and patients come from as far away as Ohio, West Virginia and New York for tests.

The demand for testing created a huge backlog of paperwork and the former employees said the order went out to get rid of any requests older than six months.

Spokesman Dave Cowgill e-mailed Target 11 this response, “Schedulers have not been instructed to shred any outstanding, unscheduled request."

Cowgill added even if they were destroyed, the electronic requests remain in the computer.

Another former employee said the workers don't rely on the computer.

One former employee told Earle that some patients began calling and asking when they were supposed to come in for testing.

Because the requests were destroyed, the patients had to be rescheduled, the former employee said.

And the former employees suspect some patients were lost in the shuffle if the patient and the doctor didn't follow up.

The former worker told Earle, “The doctor may tell the patient I’m going to schedule you for an MRI. The patient might say when and the doctor will say we will have radiology call you and schedule the appointment. "

Earle asked, “And they never call?”

The former employee said, “They never call so the patient might think well, I’m OK I don't need it. “

The former employees told Earle that this has happened on at least two occasions during the past several years.