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 SEATTLE (AP) - The Department of Veterans Affairs knew for months that shower heads, handrails and other fixtures posed serious suicide risks to Seattle-area psychiatric patients, but refused to fix the problems, inspectors said in a report released Friday.
The VA said it scrambled to remedy problems in Seattle after a medical standards group threatened to pull its endorsement of two area hospitals last month. Health care for the nation's veterans has been rocked in recent months by accounts of shoddy treatment at the Department of Defense's Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., inspected the Seattle VA hospital's progress Friday and said the hospital is correcting problems identified by inspectors. She spent nearly two hours touring the hospital's two psychiatric wards and repeatedly asked VA officials to let her know if they need more money.
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