Doctor kept working for VA after medical license was suspended

Suspension doesn't stop VA doctor from practicing
By COLLEEN HEILD
Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
Published: June 24, 2012

ALBUQUERQUE — Dr. Frank Allen Zimba has been practicing medicine for 31 years, is board certified in neurological surgery — and has a disciplinary history in two other states of operating on the wrong part of his patients’ spines.

The 57-year-old Texas native was hired at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Albuquerque last August, even though disciplinary proceedings that resulted in a suspension of his Oklahoma medical license were pending.

The VA in Albuquerque isn’t saying whether Zimba has had any problems on the job so far — claiming it would be a personnel matter. But even if there have been, the state Medical Board has no jurisdiction to investigate.

That’s because under federal law Zimba is not required to be licensed in New Mexico, unlike most other physicians who work here. He only needs to be licensed in one state in the country, and he has licenses in Oklahoma, New York, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

That left Zimba — who, through a VA spokeswoman, declined to be interviewed for this story — able to work at the Albuquerque VA Hospital during the six months his Oklahoma license was suspended.
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