Recent news highlights the serious trouble that is being released out of the Memphis VA hospital, including botched surgery for a veteran with diabetes, which led to the amputation of his leg. Another report in July 2017 found that Memphis VAMC staff did not follow appropriate procedures when they discontinued a backlog of 143 VA consults associated with 140 veterans for EMG clinic consults. Interestingly, the blame was put off trying to save time and efforts. Employees of the Memphis VA hospital are now coming forward with accusations that the Chief Operations Officer, Frank Kehus, is leading the VA with ‘mafia-style’ leadership. While subordinates have recently spoken out about his poor leadership and lack of care for the veterans, Director David Dunning is backing his COO and commending his professionalism.
According to a recently released article, employees during his time at his prior position at the VA Hospital in Marion, Illinois, are now saying Kehus was "more interested in bonuses for themselves and 'blaming' the employees rather than supporting the mission," the memo says.