Manchin Receives Commitment From VA Nominee To Address VA Accountability And Reform After Clarksburg VAMC Murders

 

Washington, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee (SVAC), received a commitment from Donald Remy, nominee for Deputy Secretary of the VA, that he will work to address VA accountability and reform after the Clarksburg VAMC murders. The Deputy Secretary of the VA is the chief operating officer of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, responsible for a nationwide system of healthcare services, benefits programs, and national cemeteries for America's Veterans and their dependents.

 

On Monday, VA Secretary Denis McDonough visited the Clarksburg VA Medical Center (VAMC). This visit occurred shortly after Reta Mays was sentenced for the murders of at least seven Veterans during her time as an employee at the Clarksburg VAMC.

 

Senator Manchin said in part, “I want to thank Secretary McDonough for bringing his team to West Virginia on Monday…And I want to thank you Mr. Remy for your desire to serve and for the service you have given to your country and continue to give…The systematic issues and incompetence at Clarksburg not only endangered the patient safety of every Veteran at the Clarksburg VA facility, but also allowed for Reta Mays’ crimes to go unnoticed for so long and for her to be hired in the first place, even when she had a troubling background…I’m concerned about any other VA hospital, any of our clinics that people could be subjected to this. This gross negligence and incompetence.”

 

Senator Manchin pressed Donald Remy, nominee for Deputy Secretary of the VA, on ensuring what happened at the Clarksburg VAMC does not occur anywhere else in the nation.

 

“Just because the sentencing is over, does not mean the work is done. In fact, for this committee and the VA I believe this is just the beginning…And I know you know this, that there is nothing more important than protecting our Veterans after they have sacrificed so much, to me rectifying the systematic issues that made these murders possible is a top priority…As nominee to be Deputy Secretary of the VA, reform and accountability for the Clarksburg murders will largely fall under your purview after you are confirmed…This is a tremendous undertaking and I’m asking you to put your heart and soul into this one,” Senator Manchin continued.