PALO ALTO, Calif. (KGO) — A congressional committee is taking motion following a 7 On Your Aspect investigation into meals security considerations on the Palo Alto VA hospital. And newly-released public data increase questions in regards to the VA’s response to the allegations.
We first launched you to Dennis Berkowitz earlier this month. Berkowitz, a widely known Bay Space restaurateur, was fired from the Palo Alto VA as an unpaid kitchen volunteer after reporting the hospital was allegedly falsifying data and unsafely storing meals being served to sufferers.
“I stirred up an excessive amount of s***!” Berkowitz instructed 7 On Your Aspect, including he was appalled on the high quality of meals the hospital was serving. “The ability wasn’t even following fundamental well being requirements. They did not care!”
However this report introduced it to the eye of those that did care — the Home Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.
“I bought a name from Washington, D.C.,” Berkowitz mentioned. “They responded due to your information article… and it made them very uncomfortable.”
The 85-year-old veteran captured a slew of images that seem to point out meals being saved in violation of fundamental well being requirements — like chili that was served 65 levels under the Facilities for Illness Management’s minimal requirement. CSU East Bay Professor Dr. Michael Stanton, a public well being professional aware of the power, raised alarm in regards to the photographs and the potential for E. coli, listeria and salmonella contamination at these temperatures.
“Definitely problematic and will result in severe ailments,” Dr. Stanton mentioned. “Particularly for a chronically in poor health inhabitants.”
Berkowitz says he spent greater than six months making an attempt to get the VA’s consideration to no avail. However after the story aired, he bought a name from Congress. It got here from the Home Committee on Veterans’ Affairs — particularly, the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.
“The individuals I talked to in that subcommittee had been very involved. They weren’t blowing me off. They had been saying, ‘We’ll do one thing about this,'” Berkowitz mentioned.
The congressional committee instructed 7 On Your Aspect they’re conscious of our reporting and are at the moment “nonetheless gathering data from the VA on the state of affairs.”
The Palo Alto VA is taken into account some of the advanced amenities within the VA system, with an annual price range over $1 billion, using greater than 7,000 individuals. Berkowitz says he tried reporting these points on to the VA facility’s Medical Heart Director Jean Gurga.
“I have been making an attempt to see her for 3 months, and I have been denied all alongside the best way,” Berkowitz mentioned. “Now the worm has turned… and he or she’s asking me for an interview.”
7 On Your Aspect is instructed {that a} assembly is scheduled to occur subsequent week. Meantime, there’s one a part of all this that also would not add up: The dearth of transparency with the VA. We had been pressured to file a Freedom of Info Act request to get solutions to easy questions — and now the VA’s personal data do not match what the company initially mentioned.
Regardless of picture proof, the VA initially instructed us Mr. Berkowitz’s allegations had been “unsubstantiated.” But, federal data obtained by 7 On Your Aspect refute that.
A 3-and-a-half hour inspection that happened six months earlier than Berkowitz even began working on the facility cited the Palo Alto VA twice for comparable issues he raised in his report. In a single case, labeled “crucial,” the power failed procedures to “defend in opposition to contamination.” One other “crucial” case discovered salad being saved above the minimal Meals and Drug Administration requirement to forestall dangerous micro organism. Plus, the power’s personal plumbing was even cited as contaminated, with brown oil spilling on the ground. And that was all a part of the inspection the power handed.
The VA refuses to offer copies of any follow-up inspections for the reason that allegations surfaced in November final yr — nor will it reply whether or not any sufferers or employees reported being sick in consequence.
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“It is not even negligence. It is gross negligence,” Berkowitz mentioned.
South Bay Congressman Sam Liccardo (D – Palo Alto) responded, saying partly: “We share the intense considerations about meals security on the VA, and we’re actively engaged in making an attempt to unravel this.”
“I am glad you are doing the reporting; we do not need individuals to get damage,” mentioned Dr. Michael Stanton, who did his residency on the Palo Alto VA hospital.
Whereas we await solutions, Berkowitz says the VA’s Chief Veterans Expertise Officer referred to as to apologize.
“I mentioned, please… I do not need an apology. I would like you to repair this,” Berkowitz mentioned. “Come on, guys, step up. Let’s get this corrected.”
7 On Your Aspect will keep on this, till there’s proof that occurs.
Check out extra tales and movies by 7 On Your Aspect.
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