What ails hospitals: Veterans care

Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. The IRE Journal, Jan/Feb 2003 by Mazzolini, Joan, Porter, Jeff

* The federal watchdogs overseeing veterans' health care in the Office of Inspector General are too understaffed to handle the 15,000 complaints that come in each year and have no real authority to order changes. The reports and inspections available at the OIG Web site, while providing a pretty good idea of the problems, also reveal the extent of OIG power. And it's pretty inadequate: Hospitals investigated last year often are found to have the same problems or deficiencies the OIG found five years ago.

BY JOAN MAZZOLINI

THE (CLEVELAND) PLAIN DEALER

Joan Mazzolini has been at The Plain Dealer for nearly 11 years. She has won a George Polk Award for medical reporting and is a past IRE winner. Her series. "In Harm's Way: Inside VA Hospitals," was a finalist for the IRE's FOI Award last year.