Has the WNY VA Been Forgotten by our State & Federal Leaders?

[WB_2004]

www.politicswny.com

Mr. Illuzzi – first & foremost, thank you for breaking, carrying the story, & allowing people to express their opinions regarding William Feeley being demoted by the Dept of Veterans Affairs & being returned to Buffalo to run the VA’s WNY Healthcare System. When no other media would touch the story back in April & May, when Senators Schumer & Gillibrand & Congresswoman Slaughter & Congressman Higgins refused to become involved in undoing the shameful political deal that was made by Feeley to keep himself employed & send him into hiding running the Buffalo VA Hospital, ONLY YOU were there for our Veterans! The Feeley story has only seen scant coverage long after we saw it here, & certainly nothing with teeth like we got from you:

http://buffalo.bizjournals.com/buffa.../daily198.html

http://www.vawatchdog.org/09/nf09/nf...nf060609-2.htm

Feeley is officially back as of yesterday. I recall reading a story here about a manager that he hired last time he ran down the Buffalo VA who was completely out of control but protected by Feeley. Well, sure enough, he is allowing this manager to move data processing staff (number crunchers!) into office space where some of the most private & sensitive issues involving Veterans & employees are handled. In Feeley’s first 72 hours in Buffalo, he is already allowing & giving blessing to the violation of the Dept of Veterans Affairs very own policies regarding privacy issues!!! Not to mention how much a move like this costs financially & in manpower hours, much better spent on the patients!

Feeley’s first 72 hours are already exhibiting signs of problems involving his operation of the Buffalo VA; a gross waste of funds & official time; and violations of Veteran & employee privacy. Where is the Inspector General’s office when they are needed?

Also, I must say, you are a force to be reckoned with Mr. Illuzzi! Every time I read a story here about what was being allowed to happen, leadership-wise, to our Buffalo VA, I saw press releases here by the aforementioned elected officials trying to detract attention away from the VA stories. In early May, when you broke the most scathing story of all involving Feeley, the four referenced elected officials issued a press release regarding improving services for visually impaired Veterans.

Coincidence? I think not! Plus, it was such a joke because everyone knows that you need strong leadership to accomplish what they were proposing; yet, the VA WNY Healthcare System was being allowed to lose the best leader they ever had. It’s no wonder that this press release was only carried by one of your wannabees.

Thank you again for supporting our Country’s Heroes. Hopefully, thanks to you, our elected officials will actually begin paying attention to their VA Hospital & to who is running the show. Maybe next time the opportunity arises to obtain & keep a Director, a leader, like David West in Buffalo, our elected officials will step up to the plate! Getting David West back in Bath was a huge victory for Congressman Eric Massa! http://www.bath.va.gov/bathmanagement.asp

[Green]

First of all, did you notice on the Illuzzi Letter that immediately following the post about William F. Feeley & the Buffalo VA, Brian Higgins immediately sent a press release regarding voting with his colleagues in the House of Representatives to approve keys bills which will provide critical support services and funding for veterans: H.R. 1016, the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform & Transparency Act and H.R. 1211, the Women Veterans Health Care Improvement Act. WE'RE TOO SMART FOR YOUR DISTRACTION ATTEMPT MR. HIGGINS!

Also, the move that is discussed in the Illuzzi posting did take place today as scheduled. It's one thing that the Buffalo VA Hospital's own Compliance Officer & Privacy Officer turned a blind eye on the move, but it's inexcusable that the Office of the Inspector General did not stop the occurrence. Four high paid employees got nothing done all day & at least a crew of 12 movers, etc made a day long mess. When the affected employees get back to work, then will come the breaches of confidentiality & privacy promised to every VETERAN & employee. Would Mr. Higgins or any member of the Senate or
Congress like to comment on the configuration of the Buffalo VA's Room 622B not only breaching privacy as outlined in the VA's very own policy, but also being in violation of several Federal privacy LAWS.

Lastly, Feeley & his ways are known to many. Read some of the comments at
http://www.vawatchdog.org/09/nf09/nf...nf060609-2.htm

"The Veterans Oversight Committee (VOC) of New Jersey lobbied Feeley NOT to fire Dr Van Boven of the Central Texas Health Care System. Van Boven made the mistake of honestly exposing corruption & incompetence in the Brain Injury & Recovery Lab in Austin. Feeley just blew us off -- in a return phone call, he insulted us and stated there was evidence against Van Boven (a LIE !!) . We're glad to see he's OUT of DC. WHY isn't Feeley in jail for gross negligence ?? Look at all the OTHER good doctors he had fired (Dr Ordnuff, Dr Bathia) for protecting Veterans. Feeley is a monster & should be prosecuted, not given a cushy NY State job !!! Dr Cross must be fired NEXT !!"

"Mr. Feely appears to be a typical executive manager in the VA. If the General expects to improve the image of the VA and the trust of veterans, he must ask these imbeciles to resign or retire. Otherwise, nothing will change. Do you hear us General?"

"how screwed up do you have to be to get "fired" by the VA? Are they really putting there best people available in reassigning this man to a managers level position in New York? Why can't they put him in charge of bed pans or VA mail, something he can't harm anyone in, he is the epitome of a screw up....."

[WB_2004]

http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs...GION/130529762


Quite simple at the Buffalo VA - the Unions are in bed with middle management. Union reps & Union heads treat employees worse than they would be treated if there were no Unions, particularly those affiliated with the nurses Union, NYSNA. The VA Nurse of Distinction for Nurse's Week 2013 is someone who lies & screws fellow RN's behind their backs, even those whose positions are not in the bargaining unit - certainly something she should completely distance herself from. Ditto for the NYSNA President at the VA who has her nose into every bit of non-Union Nurses activity. Then we have a Hospital Director that is clueless & ill equipped to be the Director, along with a child-like Associate Director in Petti who will never improve as his own arrogance willl not allow him to improve & mature as a leader. Next, there's the completely spineless Medical Director. Lastly, the true leader of this pack that no one in leadership will say "no" to and who should have been gone from the VA more than a decade ago - the Performance Manager Kathryn VarKonda. She has her own agenda focused on herself, not on the Veterans, is the biggest phoney you will ever meet, cannot keep her lies straight, creates her own reality, and is nothing more than a bully who does not believe that any VA policy concerning workplace conduct applies to her. This is a lethal combination at the Buffalo VA. Back in 2009 there was an outcry to make David West the permanent Director of the Buffalo VA. It was not done as William Feeley cut himself a nice political deal to return from Washington, DC to Buffalo following Obama's election & serve as Hospital Director for a few more years to pad his own pension. Feeley was nothing more than a lame duck Director in Buffalo who went above and beyond to allow VarKonda to run the organization. What little progress the Buffalo VA made under West's interim appointment as Director in Buffalo was completely destroyed by Feeley's & VarKonda's leadership 2009-2011. West's leadership talents were recognized in that he was appointed VISN Director in September 2010; however, his kind of strong leadership from someone in it for all the right reasons was/is needed right in Buffalo. Instead, since 2009, a bad Buffalo situation only became worse & employees who do their work, want to see change in the facility, are not afraid to speak up & try to do the right thing are punished, while the lame aforementioned Buffalo Leadership remains without as much as a slap on the wrist. Maybe, just maybe, this most recent incident will open some eyes.

[WB_2004]

http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs...NION/130529643

"Petti, who spent less than a day on the complaints, was exonerated and told he responded quickly to the problems and provided appropriate oversight. Remarkable."

And who did Petti assign to investigate the matter - his Performance Manager, Kathryn VarKonda? Is this the 100 millionth VA cover up of VarKonda's behavior and actions?

[Riven37]

Since Secretary Shinseki! Taken over and been in place these last five years Veterans Benefit waiting period for their clams has increased by 2000 percent. It is time that Shinseki goes.

[Riven37]

Oh by the way. The Buffalo VA is not a Veterans hospital they may call it that however, it has been UB’s medical teaching school since the eighties. My own doctor is a UB’s internist. Often Vets will see doctors who are there for only two years which is about the time you get comfortable with your doctor then they are gone without notice. I know I have gone through 3 doctors since 2004. Buffalo VA will always be a teaching school not a real hospital.