CBS Evening News was the sole Big Three evening newscast on Friday to cover President Obama's visit to the V.A. hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, where "some vets died before they got treatment, and hospital officials hid those long delays on secret wait lists," as Scott Pelley put it. The CBS program also touted a veteran who poured cold water on the Obama administration's claim that appointment times have improved in the V.A. system. [video below]
ABC's World News Tonight and NBC Nightly News completely punted on covering the presidential visit and/or the ongoing problems in the veterans's health system. Instead, ABC devoted a brief to Mr. Obama's jokes on their Jimmy Kimmel Live program the previous night, and CBS spotlighted a mountain biker's extreme feat in Arizona. Both newscasts also concluded with full segments on actor Robert Downey, Jr.'s kind gesture to a child who was born with just one complete arm.
CBS anchor Scott Pelley teased correspondent Wyatt Andrews's report by noting how "the White House said today V.A. health care is getting better, so we asked a vet." Pelley then played a clip from Iraq War veteran Brian Gibbs, who blunted stated, "I don't see any difference from when I started a year and a half ago to today." Moments later, the anchor summarized the President's visit to the Arizona hospital at the center of the V.A. scandal:
SCOTT PELLEY: Today, President Obama made his first visit to the Phoenix V.A. hospital that epitomized all that was wrong with the veterans' health care system – where some vets died before they got treatment, and hospital officials hid those long delays on secret wait lists. The administration says thousands of doctors and nurses have now been hired nationwide, and those wait times are improving. But the President, who vowed nearly a year ago to fix the V.A., acknowledged there is still a lot more to do.
During his report, Andrews played two soundbites from Gibbs, one from President Obama, and one from V.A. whistleblower Dr. Katherine Mitchell, who asserted that she saw some improvements in the government-run health care system. However, at the end of the segment, the CBS correspondent also zeroed in on one key detail that hadn't changed:
WYATT ANDREWS (voice-over): Brian Gibbs, an Iraq war veteran, says two months from now, he will finally get to see a V.A. surgeon in Phoenix for the blood clot condition in his legs. You can get appointments now, he says, but it can take forever
BRIAN GIBBS: It just never ends. There's never-ending – the questions are never answered.
ANDREWS: Almost a year after the secret wait lists were revealed, the President came to Phoenix – report card in hand. Four thousand veterans have been contacted for appointments, including everyone on those secret lists. Thirty thousand appointments have been arranged outside the V.A. And 94 percent of all appointments are made within the goal of 30 days.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA (from press conference): And we brought in a new team that has been tackling these issues, to make sure that wait times for scheduling – access to providers – is greatly improved.
ANDREWS: But Brian Gibbs says some of that improvement is overstated – especially the thirty-day appointment.
GIBBS: You get your appointment within 30 days, and then it gets canceled. And then, you get another one within 30 days. It's actually happened to me several times.
ANDREWS: In one sign of change, both the President and V.A. Secretary Bob McDonald spoke with whistleblower Dr. Katherine Mitchell. A year ago, when Mitchell told the truth about Phoenix, she was placed on leave.
DOCTOR KATHERINE MITCHELL: Certain things have improved. The ability to schedule a patient appointment within 30 days has improved. The – the speed of hiring has increased dramatically.
ANDREWS (on-camera): What hasn't changed is that no one has been fired. The former chief in Phoenix, Sharon Hellman, was fired for taking gifts – but not for the wait list, after a judge ruled the V.A. botched the evidence. Scott, it's a matter of time before Congress revisits why heads haven't rolled.
Just over two weeks earlier, Andrews uncovered a new scandal at the Department of the Veterans Affairs on the February 25, 2014 edition of CBS This Morning. The journalist pointed out how the veterans' benefits office in Oakland, California neglected "more than 13,000 informal claims filed between 1996 and 2009 – all of which were stashed in a file cabinet."
