President Obama is kicking off the year with a visit to Phoenix this week, but veterans at the Veterans Affairs hospital there shouldn't expect a visit from the commander in chief.
The president will speak at Central High School in downtown Phoenix Thursday afternoon to push his domestic agenda as the new Republican Congress begins its first week in session. The VA hospital in Phoenix is just two miles away from the high school, but the White House confirms to THE WEEKLY STANDARD that Obama will not visit the nearby medical complex during this trip. Obama will depart Phoenix shortly after his policy speech.
The Phoenix VA hospital became the center of a nationwide scandal after it was revealed last year that at least 35 veterans died while waiting for care at the hospital. Investigative reporting by journalists at the Washington Examiner and CNN discovered the existence of off-the-book waiting lists that allowed VA hospital adminstrators to fudge the numbers and in some cases earn bonuses based on false processing figures. Further investigation found similar problems at VA hospitals and medical centers across the country and led to a number of resignations at the Department of Veterans Affairs, including that of Secretary Eric Shinseki.
Several veterans groups have called on Congress and the president to take more action to ensure such abuses don't happen again at VA hospitals. Pete Hegseth, the CEO of Concerned Veterans for America, issued a statement on Obama's decision not to visit the Phoenix hospital.
“If President Obama wanted to get the ground truth — and send a signal of strong leadership — he would take the time to visit the Phoenix VA hospital during his forthcoming trip to that neighborhood," said Hegseth. "Unfortunately, President Obama has yet to show leadership in the fight to reform and fix the VA. Instead, members of his administration have repeatedly tried to downplay the scandal — going so far as to whitewash reports on the deaths of veterans as the result of the use secret wait lists, including at the Phoenix VA hospital."