Post by Logan on Feb 18, 2016 4:45:29 GMT -6
Wayne Pfeffer, the embattled head of the Veterans Administration’s Pacific Islands Health Care System, has abruptly resigned, effectively immediately, and will be returning to the mainland.
Pfeffer had been on the job less than three years and oversaw a system that at one point in 2014 had the longest wait times in the entire VA system for an incoming patient to get an initial appointment with a primary care physician. In 2014, U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard had called for Pfeffer’s resignation.
Acting director Tonia Bagby, a clinical psychologist, today referred to Pfeffer’s departure as a “retirement,” rather than a resignation.
Pfeffer was not on the job today after sending an email to the VA staff around noon Tuesday that read, “It has not been an easy decision for me, however due to personal reasons, I am retiring and returning to the mainland. VA PIHCS will continue to get better and better because of the great people here. I want to thank each and every one of you for your support and the things you’ve shared and allowed me to share. I will certainly miss Hawaii, and all of you who have become my family, my ohana. It has been a honor and a pleasure to have been able to be a member of this ‘ohana and the wonderful things happening here.”
Read more: www.staradvertiser.com/breaking-news/embattled-director-of-veterans-affairs-in-pacific-resigns/
Pfeffer had been on the job less than three years and oversaw a system that at one point in 2014 had the longest wait times in the entire VA system for an incoming patient to get an initial appointment with a primary care physician. In 2014, U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard had called for Pfeffer’s resignation.
Acting director Tonia Bagby, a clinical psychologist, today referred to Pfeffer’s departure as a “retirement,” rather than a resignation.
Pfeffer was not on the job today after sending an email to the VA staff around noon Tuesday that read, “It has not been an easy decision for me, however due to personal reasons, I am retiring and returning to the mainland. VA PIHCS will continue to get better and better because of the great people here. I want to thank each and every one of you for your support and the things you’ve shared and allowed me to share. I will certainly miss Hawaii, and all of you who have become my family, my ohana. It has been a honor and a pleasure to have been able to be a member of this ‘ohana and the wonderful things happening here.”
Read more: www.staradvertiser.com/breaking-news/embattled-director-of-veterans-affairs-in-pacific-resigns/