VA to fire four senior officials in response to wait time scandal

WASHINGTON, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced the firing of four senior officials as a result of information obtained during the investigation into long wait times at VA facilities around the country.

"[The] VA will actively and aggressively pursue disciplinary action on those who violate our values," VA Deputy Secretary Sloan Gibson said in a statement.

"There should be no doubt that when we discover evidence of wrongdoing, we will hold employees accountable."

The four fired senior officials are Susan Taylor, the deputy chief procurement director in Washington D.C. who unfairly awarded contracts to a private reverse auction company without actually considering other bids; Terry Gerigk Wolf, director of the Pittsburgh VA Healthcare System, who behaved with "conduct unbecoming a senior executive"; James Talton, director of the Central Alabama VA Healthcare System, who was found guilty of repeated neglect; and the director of the VA medical center in Dublin, Georgia.