Perhaps you recall that at least ten, and likely more, veterans were murdered by a nurse while in her care at Louis A. Johnson Medical Center VA Hospital in Clarksburg, West Virginia. The VA has finally announced the changes that will be made at the hospital. It’s about time.
The release of the information just before a holiday weekend (Christmas Eve) was likely released at that time so that the media and the public would take little notice.
The veterans known to have been murdered lost their lives between 2017 and mid-2018. That’s when the hospital finally notified the VA Inspector General of suspicious deaths. Sadly, the public—and more importantly, the veterans who use the hospital’s services—did not learn of the murders until a year later. That was shared with the public only because a victim’s family hired an attorney and came forward. To me, that coverup in itself is criminal.
Still, the VA was reluctant to share any information. In fact, in a seeming case of CYA, Veterans Health Administration’s Executive in Charge, Dr. Richard Stone, had the nerve to say, “no hospital is immune to the harm that a determined bad actor can cause.” True, but certainly not very comforting to the families who suffered loss. Stone then took local media to task, as if the shocking revelation being reported on was somehow their fault.
Richard A. Stone, M.D.
Stone also said at that time (November 2019) that the VA “worked quickly to address the problem.” If that is the case, why are the changes just being made…more than two years after the VA first learned of the suspicious deaths?
The steps to reorganize the medical center do not address how and why the untimely and suspicious deaths of the veterans went undetected over a period of many months. What systems failed to detect the murders, and why did they fail? Why did the murders go undetected for so long? Why was insulin left out in public areas, and why was it’s use not noticed by hospital pharmacists?
Reta Mays, a former night shift nursing assistant at the hospital, pleaded guilty earlier this year to seven counts of second degree murder and one count of assault with intent to commit an eighth. Mays injected aging veterans with insulin they were not prescribed to receive, triggering severe hypoglycemia that caused their deaths. She faces life in prison when sentenced.
We still do not know what motivated Mays to kill those men. She was prosecuted for eight deaths, but Charleston Attorney Tony O’Dell believes she could be responsible for as many as ten more. He is now reviewing Mays work schedule to see if she was on duty when the other veterans died. **
The attorney, who represents families of many of the victims, said on local radio program Talkline on Monday that the changes at the hospital are long overdue.
“Here we are, two-and-a-half years later, and they’re just now really starting the process… of trying to make changes. That’s just really unacceptable,” he said.
Charleston Attorney Tony O’Dell
Veterans Health Administration’s Executive in Charge, Dr. Richard Stone, announced the following changes: (A full operations report from the VA Office of Inspector General still pending.)
- Hospital Administrator, Dr. Glenn Snider, Jr., is being replaced.
- A nursing leadership team is being brought in.
- A retraining program in reporting urgent issues is being put in place.
- And the medical center will “stand down” for a period and not accept new patients, except for emergencies or for Covid-19 cases.
Snider
Beginning next week on Jan. 4, Barbara Forsha, deputy director of the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, will take over as the Clarksburg VA’s acting medical director.
Forsher
Two-and-a-half years to come up with that plan. Two-and-a-half years. The bureaucratic wheels turn slowly.
As Talkline Host Hoppy Kerchavel said, “The veterans who rely on the Louis A. Johnson Medical Center for their care, and the public that pays for those services, deserve to know the whole truth. That means a full and detailed report on the investigation, not just a press release before a holiday.”
** The total number of murders will never be known, as some of the exhumed bodies are too deteriorated to provide any definitive proof and some of the possible victims were cremated. Add to that poorly kept records and shoddy autopsies. What a damn shame.
