Thousands of veterans' records collected mold at Buffalo VA

Thousands of records may have been lost or damaged at VA hospitals in Buffalo, Batavia
The Buffalo News
By Jerry Zremski
News Washington Bureau Chief
May 22, 2013

WASHINGTON – Thousands of patient records at the VA hospitals in Buffalo and Batavia have likely been misplaced or damaged, according to federal officials who have been prodding the facilities to improve their record-keeping.

VA officials uncovered the problem after the associate director of the Buffalo medical center initially dismissed worker complaints about shoddy record-keeping, according to officials at the Office of Special Counsel, which presses federal agencies to address complaints brought by whistle-blowers.

Four medical records technicians in Western New York “disclosed that medical files – including cardiac records, dental records and Agent Orange registry records – were randomly thrown in boxes rather than kept in any order, that many Social Security numbers were not properly attributed to the correct veteran name, and that mold-infested files were not handled properly to prevent further contamination and to ensure their restoration,” the Office of Special Counsel said. “As a result, veterans’ medical records were often deemed unavailable.”

Word of the lost and damaged records, coming just four months after reports that the Buffalo VA hospital potentially exposed hundreds of diabetic patients to contaminated insulin pens, prompted Rep. Chris Collins, R-Clarence, to call for the resignation of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki.
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