The Department of Veterans Affairs Monday released its findings on deaths and injuries that occurred as a result of delayed tests and treatments.
Going back to 1999, the VA identified three patients in the Sunshine Healthcare Network, which includes Florida, south Georgia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands who died from malignancies as the result of delays in treatment.
Two were from the North Florida/South Georgia VA Health System and one was from the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center, according to the VA.
Another two patient deaths in the region were determined not be related to the delays.
Nationally, the VA identified 76 patients in the health care system for whom institutional disclosures were provided or attempted, based on their gastrointestinal care. Of those, 23 since died.
There were no deaths as the result of delays at the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital in Tampa or the C.W. “Bill” Young VA Medical Center in Bay Pines, but there were two “institutional disclosures” at the Bay Pines facility and one in Tampa, according to the report. That means that patients or their representatives were notified that they were harmed, or may have been harmed, during their care.
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