Report: VA's 'corrosive culture' hurting vets



(Photo: CNN)



(CNN) -- The Veterans Affairs health system has been plagued by leadership that lacks responsiveness overall and the ability to effectively run things and communicate to employees or veterans, a report submitted to President Barack Obama on Friday said.

The conclusions by Rob Nabors, who Obama dispatched to assess the situation at the troubled agency, also found that a "corrosive culture" has led to personnel problems that are impacting the timely delivery of care.

"There's a strong sentiment among many veterans and stakeholders that in general VA provides high quality health care 'once you get in the door' and that the current system needs to be fixed, not abandoned or weakened," Nabors said.

"However, I also believe that it is clear that there are significant and chronic systemic failures that must be addressed by the leadership at the VA," he said.

Nabors and acting VA Secretary Sloan Gibson met with Obama to deliver the update, which builds on startling revelations, spearheaded by CNN investigative reporting, over the past several months.

Those included delayed care -- sometimes with deadly results -- alleged cover-ups, and management shortcomings that have upended the agency that cares for millions of veterans and spurred public outrage, congressional investigations and legislation to overhaul how the VA health system operates.




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