Do they get the bonuses immediately or do they have to wait until age 62?
Big bonuses paid to top officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs are justified despite rising numbers of patient deaths and a stubborn backlog of disability claims, Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki said in a letter released Friday.
Shinseki said VA officials continue to investigate the performance of employees in charge of medical facilities where preventable patient deaths occurred, including one who got a $63,000 bonus and another with a perfect performance evaluation.
“There is a direct correlation between organizational performance and performance ratings at VA,” Shinseki said in his letter to Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs. “Results, or lack thereof, for which employees and executives are responsible and accountable, are factors when evaluating performance.”
Miller characterized Shinseki’s response as out of touch with the reality of the agency’s failings.
“I am extremely disappointed with Secretary Shinseki’s attempt to downplay VA’s widespread and systemic lack of accountability,” Miller said. “It’s becoming more apparent by the day that there seems to be just two types of people who think VA is properly holding its leaders accountable: VA executives who have received huge performance bonuses year after year despite failing in their jobs and those who work in VA’s central office.”
Shinseki is under growing pressure from Congress, the media and veterans groups to explain why top executives collected bonuses worth tens of thousands of dollars even though they ran hospitals where patients needlessly died, or benefits offices with huge backlogs of disability claims.