VA hospital left deceased veteran in shower room for 9 hours, report finds
An internal report blames staffers at a Veterans Affairs hospital in Florida for leaving the body of a deceased veteran to decompose in a shower for nine hours and then trying to cover it up.
The 24-page report concluded that hospice staffers at the Bay Pines VA hospital failed to provide appropriate post-mortem care to the veteran’s body, Fox 13 Tampa reports.
The report found hospice staff put the veteran’s body in a hallway and left it there for an unspecified time, the station reported. Staff then put the veteran’s body in the shower room and did not “check on the status of the decedent…for over nine hours.”
The report also found that a staff member then “falsely documented” the incident, Fox 13 reported.
The investigative report said that leaving the body unattended for so long increased the chance of decomposition.
“The report details a total failure on the part of the Department of Veterans Affairs and an urgent need for greater accountability,” Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., told the station. “Unsurprisingly, not a single VA employee has been fired following this incident, despite a clear lack of concern and respect for the veteran. The men and women who sacrificed on behalf of our nation deserve better.”
The unnamed veteran died in February after spending time in hospice care.
The hospital’s Administrative Investigation Board ordered retraining for staff.
Hospital spokesman Jason Dangel told the Tampa Bay Times hospital officials view what happened as unacceptable.
Filed under: General Problems
As a disabled veteran I have used the VA for 25 years and also the outside system for my medical care. There are some outstanding people who work in the VA and not everybody who is a government employee is horrible. Unfortunately I have been to a few different places for my medical care and depending on how well they were run makes a difference on the care that you will get. When I was in the rehab area in West Palm Beach Florida VA I ring the call light and 15 minutes later they would turn it off without answering it they did this 3 times. Finally after 45 minutes they would ask what I wanted and it would be another 30 minutes before they show up in my room. However when I was in the Minneapolis VA I called the call light and somebody was in my room within 2 or 3 minutes. Just like outside Hospital some are better than others. Unfortunately a few bad workers give everyone working there a bad name . Their are a lot of good people in the VA who work and care about veterans and wanted to do the best they can. The VA system has gotten much much better then it was when I first started using it. In fact today I would say the Care on the outside is worse than what you get at the VA.
makes me wonder how he was treated in hospice. did they have enough time to care for him? makes me so sad for this veteran.
What is a 500 error ? I get this sometimes when I try to post something. Please reply
This is just like everything else in our medical world. We are really treated badly things are getting worse. Just throw us in a room let us lay there and hurt and let the DEA take care of our medical needs. Same old same old shi__. Let the DEA finish arresting the rest of our doctors the DEA will take care of us just like they have been killing us off.
I’m not happy with what has been happening to us. I hurt so bad with pain.
This is wrong on so many levels, it just makes me sick!!
AND THESE ARE GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES DISRESPECTING AMERICAN HERO’S.!!!!
What’s our country coming to when CYOA becomes the typical practice of all government employees, including our elected officials? I honestly believe that every single government employee should be required by law to watch the movie ” Taking Chance ” and then tested on it so they can see what REAL RESPECT for our American Veterans really is.
Being both the father and son of American Veterans, I can tell you that this type of behavior totally DISGUSTS me. As a matter of fact, it truly sickens me how the entire federal government continually disregards the sacrifice made by our US Veterans. The days of once their usefulness runs out we can just forget about them needs to be over with, and the respect owed to them needs to be paid with interest.