Verbatim from U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly

South Bend, Ind.  –  U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly released the following statement after the Veterans’ Administration (VA) Office of Inspector General (OIG), Office of Healthcare Inspections issued a new report on the Fort Wayne VA hospital’s progress in addressing problems identified in the fall of 2012.



“I am encouraged that the VA OIG is reporting meaningful progress to improve the level of care given to Hoosier veterans at the Fort Wayne VA hospital over the past year,” Donnelly said. “I thank the leaders of the hospital and the medical staff for their dedication to making this right and providing the quality health care that our veterans have earned. I will continue to closely watch the performance of the Fort Wayne VA hospital and all other VA facilities in Indiana in my greater effort to confirm accessible, high-quality care for every Hoosier veteran.”



Donnelly and Congressman Marlin Stutzman (IN-03) requested that the VA OIG review the decision made to pause all inpatient care at the Fort Wayne facility. Specifically, they asked for a review of the overall quality of care and management at the facility, issues leading to the suspension of inpatient care, and what measures are needed to reopen the facility to normal operations.



Last August, Donnelly and Stutzman commented on the first report from the VA OIG, which identified unacceptable conditions that led to the suspension of inpatient care. At the time, Donnelly stated his expectation that the Veterans Health Administration and Fort Wayne VA hospital work immediately to implement the recommendations of the Inspector General to ensure that those conditions and actions never happen again.