VA Clinic failings spur calls for investigation, solutions

A Mountain Metro bus stop was placed in front of the Lindstrom VA Clinic when it opened in August 2014. Westside Pioneer photo        A recently released VA inspector general's report found 68 percent of 450 veteran cases reviewed at Colorado Springs' Floyd K. Lindstrom Veterans Administration Clinic resulted in care delays of more than 30 days.        The report further says VA employees falsified documents to create the appearance that patients received timely service, and at least one veteran died while awaiting care for a treatable condition.        These facts have triggered calls for action from area Congressman Doug Lamborn and others.        “We will hold hearings on this matter and I will personally bring this to the attention of the House and Senate VA Committee chairmen and the VA secretary,” Lamborn said. “It is morally imperative that President Obama reins in his out-of-control VA Department; they are failing too many of our veterans.”        In addition, El Paso County Commissioner Peggy Littleton said that she is “coordinating an effort to use all appropriate local, county and state resources” to devise a “strategy for ensuring solutions.”        A $10 million project built between 2012 and 2014, the 76,731-square-foot, three-story clinic is at 3141 Centennial Blvd.        Local public officials lauded the facility when it opened, saying it would expand veterans' health services, which previously had been handled at two smaller local clinics.        The types of local problems have also been experienced at other VA clinics around the country over the past year, sparking outcries about veteran neglect. Westside Pioneer/press release