Bob McDonald: Obama’s Nominee to Lead VA

Local Editor

US President Obama on Monday will nominate Bob McDonald, a West Point graduate who served as chief executive of Procter & Gamble, to take over as head of the troubled Department of Veterans Affairs [VA], according to White House officials.

The un­or­tho­dox pick of a retired corporate executive whose former company makes iconic household products such as Tide detergent and Charmin toilet paper - rather than a former military general - underscores the serious management problems facing the agency charged with serving more than 8 million veterans a year.

On Friday, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Rob Nabors submitted a report to the president finding "significant and chronic system failures" and a "corrosive culture" at the Veterans Health Administration, which has come under fire for record-keeping that was skewed in an effort to cover up the long waits imposed on former troops seeking medical care.

In recent years, the job of VA secretary has been filled by retired generals, medical professionals or politicians.

Eric Shinseki, the former Army general who was Obama's first Veterans Affairs secretary, resigned a month ago because of the agency's problems getting care to former soldiers. Sloan Gibson, Shinseki's deputy, has since been acting secretary.

"The choice suggests a real focus on customer satisfaction, as opposed to what you might get from a retired general or medical leader," said Phillip Carter, who follows veterans issues for the Center for a New American Security. "It is probably a wise choice given the concerns right now of veterans."

In a statement, House Speaker John A. Boehner [R-Ohio], usually an administration critic, hailed McDonald's experience as a veteran and as a leader in the private sector, calling him the "kind of person who is capable of implementing the kind of dramatic systemic change that is badly needed and long overdue at the VA. But the next VA secretary can only succeed in implementing that type of change if his boss, the president, first commits to doing whatever it takes to give our veterans the world class health care system they deserve."

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team