U.S. Army veteran Amber Barno says that Veterans Administration Secretary Eric Shinseki should "definitely" resign following the tragedy in which 40 veterans died while on a wait list, that was allegedly later destroyed, to receive treatment at a VA hospital in Phoenix.
"It is definitely time for Secretary Shinseki to resign," Barno told J.D. Hayworth on "America's Forum" on Newsmax TV. "He has done a great service to his country as a military officer . . . but unfortunately, as a secretary of the Department of Veteran Affairs he has failed America’s veterans."
Barno argued that, "some veterans are dying because of ethical mismanagement within the VA, and it’s time for him to go and allow some fresh leadership to come in and really restructure the VA back to a customer service-oriented organization to service veterans."
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The Army veteran explained that there are "systemic issues within the VA," as well as "very inconsistent care."
"You can go to the Washington, D.C., area and have a great experience with all different aspects of the VA, but then you go to rural Kentucky . . . to a facility where these wait times are very extended, and there’s poor medical care, sanitation, and some malpractice issues and terrible leadership and mismanagements," she explained.
Barno said that she agrees with the assertion by Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas and others that the VA tragedy should make Americans nervous about Obamacare.
"If you have any experience with the VA healthcare system, you are most likely not going to be a fan of Obamacare. It’s the same sort of bureaucracy that you’re going to see, the long wait times, the inconsistent care, the red tape, the not being able to get a hold of anyone, a terrible website, it’s government-run healthcare, and it doesn’t work," she said.
Barno joins the chorus of others who have called for Shinseki's resignation over the matter, including former House Speaker
Newt Gingrich and the head of the
American Legion.
However,
Shinkseki said Thursday that while the deaths at the VA hospital in Phoenix make him "angry," he has no plans to resign.
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