Thursday, July 30, 2009

VA and Helena Montana Fired Opthalmologist Settle

VA reaches settlement with fired doctor

Gazette News Service | Posted: Tuesday, July 28, 2009 2:20 pm | Loading…

HELENA - The VA Medical Center west of Helena says it has reached a settlement with a fired doctor.

A disciplinary appeals board had been planning to meet Tuesday to hear the case of the March 13 firing of 74-year-old ophthalmologist Harvey Casebeer of Butte.

The firing was made public in a VA inspector general's report early in the month. Casebeer was not named in the report, which said he was fired for delivering substandard care and falsifying medical records.

Charles Hail, a VA attorney in Helena, says terms of the settlement are confidential and bring an end to the process. He says Casebeer will not be returning to work

Casebeer's lawyer, John Doubek of Helena, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Casebeer had argued the complaint may have been retaliatory.

Director Montgomery VA Medical Center Promoted to Houston VA Medical Center

Adam Walmus, director of the Jack C. Montgomery VA Medical Center, has accepted a promotion to Houston to be director of the Michael E. Debakey VA Medical Center, which has been rated as “one of the most complex” VA medical centers in the country.

When Walmus first arrived he "saw the need for and got approved for, was to add inpatient mental health,” he said. “That’s 14 beds. And, to add inpatient rehabilitation for post-stroke, post-surgery patients. We have a 15-bed program. The fifth floor was closed when I got here. That’s where we put in our mental health unit and our palliative care program.”

The number of medical and surgical beds increased from 50 to 75. Walmus said they are in the final phases of adding a seven-bed hospice and palliative care program. By the end of this year, the medical center will have grown to 112 beds.

Walmus has brought in additional physicians as services have expanded: a chief of surgery, a second oncologist, a cardiologist, a hand surgeon, two neurologists, two anesthesiologists, two urologists, and four general surgeons."
Full Article: VAMC director promoted away
By Keith Purtell
Phoenix Staff Writer