A local State Representative is taking state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale to task over his audit of care for the commonwealth’s military veterans.
DePasquale’s office audited the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs and cited various issues with waiting lists, admissions and other issues preventing Pennsylvania’s veterans from getting the medical care they need.
“This audit exposes flaws at the DMVA that led to delayed care to Pennsylvania veterans,” DePasquale said. “We identified problems in its waiting list and admission procedures as well as deficiencies in how staff at veterans’ homes handle complaints about resident care and living situations.”
But Stephen Barrar (R-160), a U.S. Navy veteran and Majority Chair of the House Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee said Thursday that DePasquale’s analysis was based on a wild assumptions and a handful of clerical errors.
“The auditor general’s claims that the care and treatment of veterans was affected by limited clerical errors is outrageous and his comments smack of grandstanding,” Barrar said.
DePasquale argued last week that the state’s six facilities were regularly making errors when it came to waiting lists. DePasquale argues that DMVA’s “outdated and inflexible” policies have led to state veterans homes not administering waiting lists consistently at all six homes.
“Reviewing a one-day snap shot, we found 14 veterans were in the wrong order on the waiting lists,” DePasquale said. “Because of our audit, DMVA fixed these 14 errors. However, unless DMVA improves its oversight and monitoring of waiting lists, other veterans could be affected.”
Barrar countered by suggesting the audit was fr too limited in scope and didn’t show the real picture.
“It’s important to point out that the audit did not review the state veterans’ homes strategic plan or studies of bed allocations so the auditor general’s references about lack of planning on the part of DMVA were simply sensational comments he made that were not based on any facts uncovered by the audit,” added Barrar.
