St. Cloud VA patient data mistakenly inflated, review finds

Despite a determination that the errors were unintentional, U.S. Reps. Tom Emmer and Tim Walz say they are disappointed in a finding by a Veterans Affairs investigation that the St. Cloud VA provided inaccurate figures that inflated its success in the number of patients it saw and the number of doctors it had on staff.

Emmer, whose district includes the St. Cloud VA, and Walz, who sits on the House Veterans Affairs Committee, called on VA Secretary Bob McDonald to hold someone accountable for the error.

The report from the VA's Office of Inspector General found that figures provided by the St. Cloud VA to VA investigators did not accurately reflect gains and losses of doctors and mid-level providers at the facility. It also found that the St. Cloud VA did not accurately portray the size of patient loads for primary care providers.

But the report, released last week, said it appeared the inaccurate numbers were the result of an "inadvertent error."

The report found that more than 2,300 vets at VA facilities in Iowa City, Iowa, and Black Hills, S.D., were assigned to providers who no longer worked at the facilities in order to make caseloads appear artificially low.

Rep. Dave Loebsack, an Iowa Democrat, said in a statement Friday that anyone involved with creating what have become known as "ghost panels" should be punished.

"The use of ghost panels at any Veterans Administration facility to misrepresent the true panel size is disconcerting," he said. "The fact that the VA has created an environment where the use of ghost panels appears to be in use across the nation is unacceptable."

Walz requested the investigation last year after whistleblowers raised concerns about the panel sizes at St. Cloud. Walz made the request after KMSP-TV first reported on the problem. The issue was among several complaints that had surfaced about St. Cloud that included concerns about a toxic work environment and fears of retaliation against workers who spoke out.

In response to Walz's concerns, the St. Cloud VA released numbers that it said showed the providers weren't overloaded.

Investigators found that information about St. Cloud primary care patient loads reported to Walz and the public was inaccurate, but that "it appeared to be an inadvertent error."

For instance, investigators found the reported average panel size was based upon an average across all facility providers, but the calculation did not include adjustment for factors such as whether the provider was a part-time employee.

"This report by the VA Office of Inspector General validates our most serious concerns: that panel sizes were misrepresented by St. Cloud VA leadership and they were larger than reported," a statement from Walz and Emmer said. "Misrepresenting panel sizes is completely unacceptable and a serious breach of the public trust."

"We fully expect that whistleblowers who alerted us to the discrepancy will not be retaliated against. We will continue our oversight to ensure veterans in St. Cloud have critical access to high-quality care."

Another Inspector General report released last week found that workloads at the St. Cloud VA have been so large that primary care providers often feel overwhelmed by their responsibilities, adding considerable stress to the work environment.