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thedrifter
08-28-09, 06:18 AM
Report: No oversight for $70M program at VA
By Kimberly Hefling - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Aug 27, 2009 17:22:40 EDT

WASHINGTON — The inspector general for the Veterans Affairs Department says that agency managers were aware of serious problems with a $70 million project to replace its hospital appointment system several years before the VA dropped the program.

The VA announced the project in 2000 after complaints from veterans about long waits to make appointments. It was halted this year.

The inspector general says that managers didn't take timely and appropriate action to address problems, even as millions more were put into the program.

VA Secretary Eric Shinseki has since ordered improvements in the VA's information technology management. But the IG says that the VA still needs more qualified staff.

Ellie