Best, Worst VA Services: Medical Center Ratings Improved In 2016, But Los Angeles, Detroit Centers Decline

RTSV2PI — Veterans in major cities like Cleveland and Boston have access to some of the highest rated medical centers in the country. Reuters

Rocked by scandal as to how veterans are treated at home, the Department of Veteran Affairs surreptitiously released previously unknown internal ratings for 146 of its medical centers this week, with 120 of them improving over the last year, according to media reports.

However, two of the most recent centers involved in scandals, in Phoenix, Arizona and Tomah, Wisconsin, remained two of the lowest rated in the country, Military.com reported Friday. The VA rating scale is measured by stars, with one star being the worst and five the best.

The secret nature of publicly and forthrightly releasing the ratings follows USA Today’s investigation and revelation of the ratings earlier this month. The report could have caused “unwarranted distress” to veterans and could deter them from seeking services through the VA, Veteran Affairs Secretary Bob McDonald said.

The ratings themselves, specifically for medical centers in some of the country’s largest cities, are distressing. Centers in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Detroit, and Los Angeles each received one star as recently as June 30 of this year, USA Today showed. Around this time last year each of those centers had a two star rating.

Others remained stagnant, sitting at one star last year and holding the same rating this year. Those centers are located in Memphis, Nashville, Dallas, and El Paso, Texas.

“I am glad to see these ratings finally made public,” Rep. Martha Roby (R-Ala.) told USA Today. “This not only helps veterans know basic information about their health care options, it allows stakeholders in the community and members of Congress to demand better of the VA when improvement is needed.”

The ratings also showed some of the best centers were continuing to provide quality care to veterans. Those in both Minneapolis and St. Cloud, Minnesota, each kept their five-star ratings from a year ago, as did Cleveland's, Montrose, New York’s, Erie, Pennsylvania’s and Boston’s.