Pittsburgh VA Official Finally Fired

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

A top Pittsburgh Veterans Affairs official who already had been placed on leave has finally been formally fired following demands from members of congress that she and other VA officials must be terminated.
Terry Gerigk Wolf, the director of the Pittsburgh VA Health System, had been suspended in June over her role in a fatal Legionnaires Disease outbreak in 2011.
The action comes a month after an internal VA review concluded she should be fired under the provisions of a recently approved statute eliminating procedural roadblocks to the firing of VA officials.
Lawmakers, including U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller, chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, had been calling for Wolf's and other immediate terminations in the wake of multiple investigations highly critical of the care being provided in Veterans Affairs health facilities.
“Given that Wolf’s firing comes two years after the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System Legionnaires’ disease outbreak ended, it’s obvious VA had no interest in holding her accountable initially and was only driven to this point after intense congressional and media scrutiny, " Flake said in a statement Thursday.
Flake noted that Wolf's former boss, Michael Moreland, was paid a hefty $63,000 bonus even as the fatal Legionnaires outbreak was coming to light. He subsequently resigned and now holds a top position with a national substance abuse treatment provider.
Wolf also was singled out for honors by then VA Secretary Eric Shinseki who cited her in 2010 along with five other VA health officials for providing health care that was "the best of the best."
Six veterans died in the outbreak and 22 were sickened. The outbreak has been attributed to problems in the water systems at Pittsburgh area VA facilities and failure to conduct complete tests on the victims.
The dismissal was disclosed in a brief departmental press release citing substantiated allegations of "conduct unbecoming of a senior executive and wasteful spending."
“This removal action underscores VA’s commitment to hold leaders accountable and get veterans the care they need,” the release concluded.
Flake said, "Though Wolf’s removal is a positive step, VA still has a lot to learn about honesty, integrity and accountability, and this action doesn’t change that fact.” 
Wolf is the second high ranking VA official to be discharged amid allegations of poor and delayed care for veterans.
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