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Last updated 9:56 am CT February 09, 2010.
Durbin: "Painfully Slow" Progress at Marion VA
Friday Senator Durbin was in Marion to see how hospital leaders are working to get the surgical program back on track. Many patients and families are still waiting to see permanent personnel changes at the hospital and a functioning surgical unit, But Senator Durbin says there's no timeline for re-opening. He says in the meantime, frustrations from patients to personnel continue to grow.
"This is a very important hospital, and for many vets there's no other place to go," says Durbin.
A vital facility with many competent employees... but months after tragic findings caused the Marion VA's surgical unit to shut down, there's still no word when it will re-open.
"I wanted to know-- when is this going to happen? it's been seven months!" says Durbin. Officials with the V-A in Washington will make that decision, as well as when a permanent leadership team will take over.
"Until there is stability and permanency in the decision making at the top-- I think there's going to be continued uncertainty by the staff," Durbin says.
Having faced such scrutiny, Durbin says the staff faces a morale issue. Still he says the VA as a whole makes a promise to the veterans it serves... "We will stand by you when you come home. We'll be there to make sure you always have that medical care. We've got to keep that promise."
Tanya Peckinpaugh says those words didn't ring true for her. "I got mistreated and somebody should take care of it, pay for it- whatever you want to say," she says.
A former patient of Dr. Jose Veizaga Mendez, who was at the center of controversy at the VA, she spent two months with a hysterectomy scar that never healed. Peckinpaugh says she'll likely take legal action, but considers herself one of the lucky ones.
"At least I'm alive-- I guess that's the only thing I can say," says Peckinpaugh.
Durbin says says Congress has provided the VA with millions more than they'd asked for. But he says Marion and other locations haven't seen the money. The Senator says that's something he plans to follow-up on.
By: Emily Eddington
eeddington@wsiltv.com
Now: 1265731517
