Chicago-area cardiologist Lisa Nee testified at a Senate hearing Thursday that she was confronted with the equivalent of five to 10 banker’s boxes of unread heart tests soon after starting work at Hines Veterans Affairs Hospital in 2011.
Nee said the yearlong backlog of echocardiograms represented studies from hundreds of patients.
“My shock turned to horror as I realized many of the veterans had suffered cardiac complications, or already died, after the study was performed but prior to it being interpreted,” she said.
Nee, who worked until 2013 at the VA hospital near suburban Maywood, testified at a hearing on whistleblower claims against the Department of Veterans Affairs before the Senate Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies, chaired by Illinois Republican Sen. Mark Kirk.
Nee said she complained to the VA’s Office of Inspector General about the test backlog — a problem she said has been resolved — and said that even though an inspector general report in April 2014 confirmed the problem, no one at Hines VA Hospital has been held accountable and patients were not notified.
She said private sector doctors are imprisoned and their employers fined for the kind of malfeasance she saw at Hines.
In an interview after the hearing, Nee said, “Hines gets an F still, absolutely.”
Nee said technicians had alerted her to the backlog, which was blamed on a lack of resources. She said she complained to Hines VA Hospital officials before talking to the inspector general and believes her early complaints led her to be retaliated against and given the lowest salary among her department peers.
Kirk said VA whistleblowers face harsh treatment. “They have been through hell to give mistreated veterans a voice,” he said, “because the system built to protect whistleblowers, to fight corruption, has failed them.”
Nee said she called the inspector general hotline shortly before leaving Hines VA Hospital, and within 24 hours, a top hospital official told her that if she were to report anything about patient care, she would be brought up for violating patient privacy.
Asked about Nee’s testimony, Hines VA Hospital spokeswoman Charity Anderson gave a statement: “Providing high-quality, timely care to our veterans is our primary focus. The Office of the Medical Inspector (OMI) investigation report process is still underway.
“We are committed to correcting any issues in the final report and will develop action plans to address the OMI’s recommendations.”
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