WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Frank Guinta, R-NH, issued the following statement Tuesday, after Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert McDonald compared long wait times at VA hospitals to long lines at Disney theme parks:
“The Secretary’s callous comments show how out of touch he is with the state of veterans health care, still substandard two years after a nationwide scandal. Dozens of vets died on secret patient waiting lists, while VA employees collected bonuses. Studies show thousands of vets died before receiving appointments. Secretary McDonald’s comparison of their plight to a good time at Disneyland is extremely disturbing. If the VA were anything like Disneyland, senior executives there would have been fired a long time ago,” Guinta said.
According to his record in the 114th Congress, Rep. Guinta has voted for the bipartisan VA Accountability Act, which allows the Secretary to remove or demote underperforming or negligent employees. He introduced legislation to expand veterans’ choice of health care to private facilities and another bill to enforce reform.
Along with push back from politicians, Disney Corporation also responded to the comments, saying they take seriously the issue of wait time and try to make waiting fun, adding that the corporation was founded by veterans – brothers Walt and Roy Disney.
Manchester’s Veterans Adminstration was in the news last month for reports that wait time records were manipulated by staffers.
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