Stewart Levenson
Stewart I. Levenson is the former Chairman of the Department of Medicine at the VA Medical Center in Manchester, New Hampshire (2011-2017). Levenson also served as the Medical Director of the VA New England Network, from 2014 to 2017. He retired from these positions in July 2017 in part to avoid retaliation for becoming a whistleblower, exposing dangerous treatment of patients at the Manchester VA. He and W. Edward "Ed" Kois cofounded a group of whistleblowers which eventually grew to over a dozen care givers. The group submitted formal complaints about the Manchester Facility to the Office of Special Counsel depicting substandard care that was being provided to veterans. The group demanded the removal of the medical center's top leadership. These complaints became the basis of a major Boston Globe Spotlight report.
This report detailed deplorable conditions and an obsession with performance metrics at the expense of patient care within New Hampshire's only VA facility. The reaction to the Boston Globe article was swift with the Department of Veteran's Affairs Secretary, David Shulkin ordering a "Top to Bottom" investigation. The medical center's director, Danielle Ocker, and the chief of staff, James Schlosser were immediately removed. Shulkin visited the medical center along with New Hampshire's entire Congressional delegation. Shulkin met privately with Levenson and Kois, along with the other whistleblowers for close to an hour. After the meeting, at the urging of Levenson, he then removed the medical center's nurse executive Carol Williams. An announcement was also made that the medical center would receive $30 million in order to provide improved care.
Shulkin also ordered the creation of a task force to study the feasibility of providing a full service hospital for New Hampshire, one of only two states not to have such a medical center. Skulkin appointed Michael Mayo- Smith to lead this task force. Levenson stated in an interview that this was unacceptable since he had complained to Mayo-Smith for several years regarding the poor quality of care and received little attention. Levenson also expressed his reservations regarding the investigation since a recent investigation by the same body, The Office of Medical Inspector (OMI) had produced a report which was felt by Levenson, Kois and their attorney, Andrea Amadeo-Vickery, to be little more than a whitewash. The OMI also expected witnesses to sign confidentiality agreements in order to testify. Levenson, in an interview on WMUR stated that if they expected him or the other whistleblowers to sign such an agreement, "They were out of their minds." Levenson spoke at several town hall meetings in front of hundreds of concerned veterans, listening to their concerns and discussing means of improving conditions at the Manchester VA. After retiring from his position at the VA Levenson continued to work for improved patient conditions by meeting with the new medical center administrative team and lobbying to become a member of the above task force.
This report detailed deplorable conditions and an obsession with performance metrics at the expense of patient care within New Hampshire's only VA facility. The reaction to the Boston Globe article was swift with the Department of Veteran's Affairs Secretary, David Shulkin ordering a "Top to Bottom" investigation. The medical center's director, Danielle Ocker, and the chief of staff, James Schlosser were immediately removed. Shulkin visited the medical center along with New Hampshire's entire Congressional delegation. Shulkin met privately with Levenson and Kois, along with the other whistleblowers for close to an hour. After the meeting, at the urging of Levenson, he then removed the medical center's nurse executive Carol Williams. An announcement was also made that the medical center would receive $30 million in order to provide improved care.
Shulkin also ordered the creation of a task force to study the feasibility of providing a full service hospital for New Hampshire, one of only two states not to have such a medical center. Skulkin appointed Michael Mayo- Smith to lead this task force. Levenson stated in an interview that this was unacceptable since he had complained to Mayo-Smith for several years regarding the poor quality of care and received little attention. Levenson also expressed his reservations regarding the investigation since a recent investigation by the same body, The Office of Medical Inspector (OMI) had produced a report which was felt by Levenson, Kois and their attorney, Andrea Amadeo-Vickery, to be little more than a whitewash. The OMI also expected witnesses to sign confidentiality agreements in order to testify. Levenson, in an interview on WMUR stated that if they expected him or the other whistleblowers to sign such an agreement, "They were out of their minds." Levenson spoke at several town hall meetings in front of hundreds of concerned veterans, listening to their concerns and discussing means of improving conditions at the Manchester VA. After retiring from his position at the VA Levenson continued to work for improved patient conditions by meeting with the new medical center administrative team and lobbying to become a member of the above task force.
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