US|Head of Veterans Health System Is Trump's Pick to Lead Veterans Affairs - New York Times
“The Trump campaign made a big deal of what a sucking chest wound the V.A. was,” said Phillip Carter, an Iraq veteran who studies the agency for the Center for a New American Security, a research organization that focuses on the military and veterans. “Then they realized how hard it would be to turn around, and decided they needed to continue with the reforms that are already taking effect.”
Graphic
Donald Trump’s Cabinet Is Taking Shape. Here’s the Latest List.
A list of possibilities and appointees for top posts in the new administration.
Mr. Carter, who advised Hillary Clinton’s campaign on veterans issues, called Dr. Shulkin a smart choice, saying he was among a very small group with the expertise to run a large, complicated health care system.
“He knows the V.A. but he is not of the V.A.,” Mr. Carter said. “He comes from the private sector and knows how to blend private and public care.”
Mr. Trump praised Dr. Shulkin on Wednesday, saying in a statement, “I have no doubt Dr. Shulkin will be able to lead the turnaround.”
The pick came after weeks of scrambling by the Trump transition team, which the president-elect said had considered “at least 100” candidates to lead the troubled agency. Names under consideration included former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin and former Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts, as well as a few generals and admirals.
Three weeks ago, the team settled on Toby Cosgrove, the chief executive of the Cleveland Clinic and a former Air Force surgeon, but he turned down the offer, according to a person close to the transition team who was not authorized to speak publicly.
That left the team divided. Some favored one of the few remaining candidates, Pete Hegseth, an Iraq veteran and Fox News commentator. But others saw him as too extreme because for years he ran Concerned Veterans for America, a small advocacy group financed by the Koch brothers’ network that seeks to discredit and privatize the veterans health care system.
Who Trump Wants in His Cabinet
A look at four of President-elect Donald J. Trump’s picks for his cabinet, which stands to be the wealthiest in United States history.
By SHANE O’NEILL on Publish Date January 11, 2017.
Photo by Doug Mills/The New York Times.
Watch in Times Video »
Many veterans groups vigorously opposed Mr. Hegseth, leaving the transition team with no obvious alternative. So, although Mr. Trump had vilified the department’s leadership for months on the campaign trail, he ended up picking one of its top officials.
The news, announced by Mr. Trump at a news conference on Wednesday, left many veterans groups bewildered but pleased.
“This is a very surprising pick, but he is the best out of all the candidates,” Paul Rieckhoff, the executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said of Dr. Shulkin. The group’s membership would have preferred a veteran, Mr. Rieckhoff said, but added that Dr. Shulkin was well respected. “We know him, we trust him and we can work with him,” he said.
Dr. Shulkin will inherit a thicket of challenges in the aging and overburdened veterans health care system. Its hospitals often do not pay enough to attract new staff members, even as demand rises. Waits for appointments have not fallen since a scandal over the delays in 2014 prompted Eric Shinseki to resign as secretary.
The department’s computerized records system is obsolete and unable to communicate with outside doctors. And though its buildings are on average more than 50 years old, closing underused centers is often politically impossible.
“The system is changing for the better, but the transformation could take many years, and it will be difficult,” said Nancy Schlichting, who retired recently as chief executive of the Henry Ford Health System and was chairwoman of a commission that studied overhauling the system.
“Someone new coming in could take a year just to understand the issues,” she said. “Someone like David Shulkin really provides continuity that can get reforms moving forward.”
Continue reading the main story
No comments :