Congressman John Carter today condemned the Phoenix VA Health Care System for allegedly contributing to the deaths of 40 veterans who lost their lives while awaiting care from the Department of Veteran Affairs hospital in Phoenix.

“I am infuriated and heartbroken by the recent reports of 40 veterans passing while waiting for care from the Department of Veteran Affairs hospital in Phoenix,” said Congressman Carter, member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense and Co-Chairman of the House Army Caucus. “These are the men and women who sacrificed so much for the freedoms we have today. They deserve the best quality care our health system can provide, not waiting months for an appointment.  If these allegations are true, this is one of the most atrocious acts of negligence and mismanagement that I have seen during my time in Congress.

Today I spoke to the Director of the Temple VA Health Care System, Sally Houser-Hanfelder, regarding these allegations and she assured me that the Temple VA does not keep a secret waiting list for medical appointments. While Director Hanfelder has assured me that we do not have this issue at home, I will be actively involved in immediate investigations of all of our VA Health Care Systems to ensure this practice does not continue anywhere.                            

This egregious treatment of our veterans is unacceptable and the VA is capable of more. Congress has continually increased Appropriations to the VA while many other agencies have had to tighten their belt in order to better take care of veterans, yet we continue to see unacceptable performance.  Any employee responsible for denying medical treatment to our veterans will be held responsible. None of our heroes deserve to die from negligence.”