Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General

Fugitive Gregory P. Heimann Jr., of Forest City, Maine, was arrested on charges related to making false statements to the VA. Allegedly, Heimann falsely represented to the VA in May 2023 that he had been wheelchair bound since 2004 and was unable to walk or stand. However, Heimann was documented and recorded walking and standing without the assistance of any mobility devices on numerous occasions. He disappeared in April 2024 shortly before a warrant was issued for his arrest. Initially, it was believed he may have drowned in a river near the Canadian border. However, further investigation revealed Heimann was not deceased and his disappearance was ruled suspicious. He evaded law enforcement for more than one year before being arrested by the US Marshals Service at a train station in La Plata, Missouri. The VA OIG assisted in this investigation.

Comprehensive Psychiatric Services, a behavioral medicine provider in California, will pay $2.75 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by submitting false claims to government healthcare payors for certain psychotherapy services.  Read this and other investigative updates: https://lnkd.in/g-kBhd5m

The VA Nebraska–Western Iowa Health Care System has a graduate medical education affiliation agreement with a local university. Under the agreement, the university provides the services of residents to the Omaha VA Medical Center. In return, Veterans Health Administration staff provide hands-on clinical education to the residents. The medical center received a complaint alleging that a university official falsified records to inflate the time worked and signed the records as the VA site director, an act that would constitute a conflict of interest. The VA Office of Academic Affiliations asked the OIG to review six years of potential overbillings of residents’ time totaling about $1.9 million and examine the potential conflict of interest. Get the results: https://lnkd.in/g76yXxvr #veterans #VA #OIG

The VA OIG physically inspected the VA Texas Valley Coastal Bend Healthcare System in Harlingen. This report highlights the facility’s staffing, environment, unique opportunities and challenges, and relationship to the community and veterans served. https://lnkd.in/gcaaWZiW   The VA OIG made the following recommendations: 1. Facility leaders identify barriers to providers completing toxic exposure screenings and implement actions to ensure providers complete screenings within 30 days of initiation. 2. Facility leaders ensure each service has a service-level workflow for test result communication that is consistent with VHA requirements. 3. The Director ensures the Chief of Staff attends Peer Review Committee meetings. #veterans #VA #OIG

The VA OIG investigated allegations that the Chancellor of the VA Acquisition Academy engaged in misconduct in connection with an August 2023 training symposium held at a conference center hotel in Aurora, Colorado. The VA OIG found that the former chancellor accepted gifts from the conference center and failed to disclose them on her 2023 public financial disclosure as required. She also directed VA staff to solicit and accept sponsorships for social events held during the symposium and discouraged her executive assistant from asking questions or seeking guidance regarding possible ethics violations. Read the full report: https://lnkd.in/gVbK8xfU #VA #OIG

Hotline Inspection Results! The VA OIG conducted a healthcare inspection to assess the quality of care provided to a patient while hospitalized at the Overton Brooks VA Medical Center in Shreveport, Louisiana. The VA OIG also identified concerns with a quality review completed after facility leaders became aware of staff’s mismanagement of a patient’s distressed behaviors. Review the synopsis of patient’s care and inspection results: https://lnkd.in/eRFm4c6U #veterans #VA #OIG

The VA OIG reviewed whether controls at VHA medical facilities ensure accountability over high risk medications when staff remove them from automated dispensing cabinets using generic, rather than patient-specific, information. VA medical facilities use automated dispensing cabinets to help manage medication inventory and to allow clinical personnel to dispense medications to patients near the point of care in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Get the results of this national review: https://lnkd.in/gA7KRzVb #veterans #VA #OIG

Christina Nolte, of Bridgeport, West Virginia, was indicted on allegations that she falsified medical records to receive VA disability benefits and then used the rating to obtain an unlawful discharge of her student loans. The indictment seeks forfeiture and a money judgment in the amount of $360,466.38. Read this and other investigative updates at https://lnkd.in/g-kBhd5m.

Ishwanzya Rivers, of Cincinnati, Ohio, was arrested on charges alleging she misappropriated money that she was managing on behalf of four veterans. She is suspected of taking more than $148,000 from elderly, infirm, or dying veterans to indulge in shopping, traveling, and dining. Read this and other investigative updates at https://lnkd.in/g-kBhd5m.

Veterans can submit compensation claims for disabilities associated with active service, and if they disagree with VA’s decision on the claim, they may appeal it. The VA OIG conducted this audit to assess the Office of Information and Technology’s program management of Caseflow, the technology system VA adopted to support the new appeals system. Overall, the OIG found VA lacked an enterprise-wide governance structure over Caseflow, which limited oversight during development and led to inefficiencies in reporting and functionality. Read the full report: https://lnkd.in/gMSYkkG3   #veterans #VA #OIG