{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://roby.house.gov/press-release/roby-meets-deputy-va-secretary-sloan-gibson-montgomery", "Roby Meets with Deputy VA Secretary Sloan Gibson in Montgomery", "2014-10-10", "2014", "2014-10", "Republican", "House", "AL", "Martha Roby", "R000591", "roby.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "MONTGOMERY, Ala. \u2013 U.S. Representative Martha Roby (R-AL) today met with Deputy Veterans Affairs Secretary Sloan Gibson to discuss the need to overhaul the troubled Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System (CAVHCS).\nEarlier this week, the Department of Veterans Affairs moved to terminate system director James Talton for \u201cneglect of duty\u201d after numerous instances of misconduct and malfeasance were exposed at CAVHCS. In July, Rep. Roby\u00a0and Senator Richard Shelby\u00a0(R-AL) wrote Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert McDonald requesting that he visit the Central Alabama VA and develop a plan to reform it, with attention and accountability from Washington.\u00a0\n \n\t\u201cIt is crucial that senior VA officials in Washington see first hand what\u2019s going on here in Central Alabama, so\u00a0I\u2019m pleased Mr. Gibson was here,\u201d Rep. Roby said. \u201cAs I explained to him, this is my district, and these are my veteran constituents who are being mistreated because of the negligence that has occurred here. \n\t\u201cMy\u00a0focus is making the Central Alabama VA better for veteran patients who need it. I think we are getting somewhere in terms of convincing VA management to utilize outside local hospitals and doctors to help reduce the wait times and get veterans access to care.\n \n \n\t\u201cI\u2019m going to continue to press the VA. I think it was pretty clear to Mr. Gibson that this remains my priority, and I\u2019m not going anywhere.\u201d\n \nTimeline of recent events:\n May 2014 \u2013 the VA\u2019s Office of Inspector General\u00a0confirms numerous allegations of rampant abuse and mismanagement at a VA health care facility in Phoenix, Arizona. Rep. Roby said the Phoenix revelations, particularly the scheduling fraud, \u201csounded familiar\u201d compared to the many complaints she received from veteran constituents.\u00a0\n\tJune 2014\u00a0\u2013\u00a0reports emerge showing\u00a0CAVHCS employees had engaged in particularly egregious scheduling manipulation. Even with the artificially inflated numbers,\u00a0CAVHCS reports some of the longest wait times\u00a0for veterans patients in the country.\n\tJune 2014\u00a0\u2013\u00a0During a meeting to discuss the troubling findings, CAVHCS Director James\u00a0Talton\u00a0leads Rep. Roby to believe disciplinary action, including the removal of employees, had been taken\u00a0against those responsible for misconduct within Central Alabama.\u00a0That was not true, Rep. Roby soon learns by talking with multiple whistleblowers who contacted her office with special knowledge of CAVHCS.\u00a0\n\tJune 2014 \u2013\u00a0After what she called this \u201cbreach of trust,\u201d\u00a0Rep. Roby and her staff began digging deeper to find out what was really happening inside CAVHCS.\u00a0\n\tJuly 2014\u00a0\u2013 \u00a0Rep. Roby and U.S. Senator Richard Shelby\u00a0call national attention to the problems within CAVHCS\u00a0including disturbing instances of malfeasance and cover-up. They write newly confirmed VA Secretary Robert McDonald asking him to visit CAVHCS and develop a plan to reform it.\u00a0\n\tAugust 2014\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Continued exposure of misconduct\u00a0leads to action being taken in late August to place Talton and Robinson on administrative leave\u00a0and install new leadership.\n\tSeptember 2014\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Rep. Roby meets with acting-director Robin Jackson and Southeast regional director Charles Sepich at CAVHCS about her distrust of the VA system.\u00a0\n\tOctober 6, 2014 \u2013 The Department of Veterans Affairs announces it has moved to terminate James Talton, the former system director who presided over the troubled Central Alabama System since 2011.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://roby.house.gov/press-release/roby-meets-deputy-va-secretary-sloan-gibson-montgomery"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4580171555280685, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}