U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Bob McDonald has already retracted comments made Monday that compared appointment wait times in the VA to wait times at Disney's theme parks.
At a Monday meeting with the press hosted by the Christian Science Monitor, Secretary McDonald said he wants the VA to be held to the standards of other businesses, not other government agencies, because it is competing with other medical systems in the country. He applied these standards to the VA's struggle with wait times, too, stating, "What we should be measuring is the veteran's satisfaction. What really counts is how does the veteran feel about [his or her] encounter with the VA. When you go to Disney, do they measure the number of hours you wait in line?"
Secretary McDonald almost immediately received backlash for the comments. U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) even called for the director to resign. "Secretary McDonald's preposterous statement is right out of Never Never Land," Sen. Blunt said in a statement. "I call on him to resign because it's clear he cannot prioritize getting our veterans the healthcare they deserve and have earned in a timely manner. Dismissing wait times when veterans can often wait months for an appointment is negligent and a clear sign that new leadership is needed at the VA."
Secretary McDonald backtracked on his remarks Tuesday evening in a statement that said his goal is to make the VA the No. 1 customer-service organization in government, and he plans to do this by drawing on the best practices found in the private healthcare sector and in other businesses.
"It was never my intention to suggest that I don't take our mission of serving Veterans very seriously," he said in the statement. "If my comments Monday led any veterans to believe that I, or the dedicated workforce I am privileged to lead, don't take that noble mission seriously, I deeply regret that. Nothing could be further from the truth," he added.
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