{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://walberg.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=399216", "Detroit Free Press: Dingell, Walberg want answers on Detroit's VA center", "2016-12-12", "2016", "2016-12", "Republican", "House", "MI", "Tim Walberg", "W000798", "walberg.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "A USA TODAY/Free Press report last week revealing a low quality rating at Detroit\u2019s John D. Dingell Veterans Affairs Medical Center led two members of Congress today to ask the agency for assurances that veterans are \u201cbeing properly cared for and are not in danger.\u201dU.S. Reps. Debbie Dingell, D-Dearborn, and Tim Walberg, R-Tipton, wrote VA Secretary Robert McDonald today asking for copies of the agency\u2019s secret star-ratings of hospitals going back five years as well as for plans for improvements at the Detroit center and when they will be implemented.\u201cWe are deeply disturbed to learn that the Detroit VA, which serves many of our constituents, has fallen to a one-star facility,\u201d they wrote. \u201cThe slip to a one-star facility is extremely troubling and we must ensure that veterans receiving health care at the facility not be harmed in any way.\u201dWhile the VA refuses to release star-ratings for its facilities, USA TODAY, a sister publication of the Free Press, recently obtained a list of one- and five-star rated facilities based on quality of care measurements compiled by the agency.In an interview, VA Undersecretary for Health David Shulkin cautioned against using the internal star ratings \u2014 which are based on dozens of factors \u2014 as a way to compare hospitals but he acknowledged that out of all the system\u2019s hospitals given a one-star rating earlier this year, Detroit\u2019s was the only one to see overall quality deteriorate instead of improve.There was no indication, however, that veterans were in any specific danger, despite the facility\u2019s low ranking on certain quality of care measurements, which officials said they were working to improve.In their letter, Dingell and Walberg chided the VA for keeping the star ratings under wraps, saying that, \u201cVeterans, just like every other patient, deserve to know how their hospitals are performing and what services need to be improved. Having a secret rating system only serves to increase distrust of the VA.\u201dDingell and Walberg also asked the VA head if there are \u201cpenalties or punishment\u201d in place for one-star hospitals and what resources are being committed to the Detroit center to help it improve. They also asked for a commitment for updates and said they planned to meet with center officials this week.Officials at the Detroit center, which was renamed for Dingell\u2019s husband, retired U.S. Rep. John Dingell, acknowledged to the Free Press last week that it had slipped to one-star due in part to \u201cperformance deteriorations\u201d in health care measures that included hypertension and diabetes control, as well as in wait times for specialty care appointments and some heart disease and medical readmission rates.Dr. Pamela Reeves, medical center director for the Dingell VA Center, also told the Free Press that its decline was also due in part to changes in the way the VA collects and measures data. She said the hospital\u2019s leadership team was working \u201cto address the opportunities identified by the \u2026 data.\u201dThis article originally appeared in the December 12 edition of the Detroit Free Press.", 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://walberg.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=399216"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7118841167539358, "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"}