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Secretary of Veterans Affairs Bob McDonald at the VA's headquarters in Washington, D.C., Sept. 8, 2014. McDonald told Senators that the agency has made big strides in fixing the problems in Phoenix.

Secretary of Veterans Affairs Bob McDonald at the VA's headquarters in Washington, D.C., Sept. 8, 2014. McDonald told Senators that the agency has made big strides in fixing the problems in Phoenix. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)

WASHINGTON — A top auditor in the Department of Veterans Affairs told Senate lawmakers Tuesday that he had expected to find delays in care at a Phoenix hospital had caused patient deaths.

But in the end there just was not enough evidence to prove it, and auditors can only “report the news that we find,” John Daigh, assistant inspector general for VA health care inspections, testified before the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.

The Inspector General, an independent agency watchdog, released a comprehensive audit last month on the VA Phoenix hospital system that found 20 patient deaths linked to poor care or delays in treatment but it stopped short of saying the department was responsible. The audit finding has been underscored by new VA Secretary Bob McDonald, who mentioned it in his own opening remarks to the committee.

Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., asked Daigh whether a reasonable person could conclude that the VA patients died due to the poor care or delays reported in the IG audit.

“We saw harm … but I couldn’t say delay caused a patient to die,” said Daigh, who is a medical doctor.

He said the IG reported its conclusions but told Senators they could judge the effects of health care shortcomings in Phoenix for themselves.

“I have a conclusion and people can come to their own conclusion,” Daigh said.

VA Acting Inspector General Richard Griffin testified that auditors discovered 45 patients’ cases — including the 20 deaths — that could open the VA to civil lawsuits.

The Phoenix hospital system became the epicenter of a national scandal in April when a whistleblowing doctor publicly claimed that 40 patients may have died while the VA staff kept secret wait lists to obscure long treatment delays. The IG said it interviewed the whistleblower, Sam Foote, and investigated his claims.

McDonald, who was confirmed by the Senate in July, told Senators that the agency has made big strides in fixing the problems in Phoenix and is following up on the IG findings last month.

“We’ve concurred with all 24 of the report’s recommendations,” McDonald said.

So far, the VA has:

Hired 53 new full-time employees. Completed 146,596 appointments in three months, and noted that all patients on off-the-books wait lists and long-term official list were reached. Reduced the electronic wait list to 56 vets in Phoenix by Aug. 15, while many facilities have hundreds waiting. Referred 14,622 patients to private care between May and August.On Monday, the new secretary unveiled an ambitious 90-day plan to turn the VA around after months of revelations on staff wrongdoing and long delays at hundreds of medical facilities across the country.

tritten.travis@stripes.com Twitter: @Travis_Tritten

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