VA Mountain Home Facility Under Fire: Whistleblower Accounts Revealed
House Committee Investigates Misconduct at VA Mountain Home Facility
WASHINGTON — The House Veterans’ Affairs Committee has been looking into serious allegations of sexual assault, misconduct, and consensual sexual activities at the VA Mountain Home health care facility in Tennessee.
Chairman Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., reported that a six-month investigation has uncovered evidence that at least two managers exploited their positions to solicit sexual favors from subordinates in exchange for job promotions.
Investigation Findings
Bost stated that the committee dispatched an oversight team to the Tennessee facility to evaluate the situation and communicated their findings to VA Secretary Denis McDonough. In response, the VA has initiated its own investigation. According to testimonies from whistleblowers, it was revealed that hospital supervisors were aware of the misconduct but failed to take action for several months.
“If these allegations are verified, without question, these men and women have no business serving veterans in East Tennessee, and this should have never happened,” Bost remarked regarding the hospital leaders implicated in the misconduct.
Details of Misconduct
The investigation by the House VA Committee’s subpanel on oversight and investigations disclosed that sexual relationships and misconduct had indeed occurred on VA property. Bost described the ongoing sexual misconduct, harassment, and inappropriate relationships at the Mountain Home facility as both “disturbing and disgusting.”
The committee recently released findings and supporting documents, which included accounts from whistleblowers indicating that a male employee engaged in consensual sexual relations with multiple female staff inside a locked training room during work hours. This employee reportedly initiated sexual encounters after offering to be their personal trainer and had “sexually suggestive conversations with 30-40 women,” according to committee documents. Alarmingly, he had also changed the lock on the training room door, making himself the sole holder of the key.
An internal investigation was prompted after one complaint was filed, leading to interviews and corroboration from additional employees. Some staff members indicated that facility leaders had known about the misconduct for at least a year before any action was taken. The male employee is no longer at the facility.
Whistleblower Accounts
Whistleblowers provided information regarding three specific cases of sexual misconduct, harassment, and consensual sexual activities that spanned several months, though the exact dates were not disclosed. Notably, none of the male staff members implicated in these allegations currently work at the facility, as confirmed by VA press secretary Terrence Hayes.
While the VA is cooperating fully with the ongoing investigation, Bost criticized the department for delays in providing essential documents, including performance reviews, that could indicate when senior leaders became aware of the misconduct.In July, Shereef Elnahal, VA’s undersecretary for health, shared complaints from employees with the House VA committee, prompting the investigation and subsequent on-site visit to gather information.
Specific Incidents of Misconduct
In one incident, a female employee filed an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) complaint after a supervisor proposed a promotion in exchange for a romantic relationship. Initially agreeing, she later ended the relationship and filed a “no contact” complaint against the manager, which he repeatedly violated. An internal review corroborated her claims, leading to the manager’s resignation after attempts were made to terminate him.
In another troubling case, a facility manager offered a female employee promotions for sexual favors. Despite senior leadership being informed, the manager faced no immediate disciplinary action. The employee later reported threats to her job and physical assault when she refused to comply, and once again, several supervisors were aware of his behavior but did nothing. The manager eventually resigned after an investigation by the VA Office of Inspector General commenced.
Conclusion
Bost expressed concern that senior leaders at the VA Mountain Home facility were aware of a pervasive culture of sexual misconduct and allowed it to continue unchecked. He called for accountability, stating that the committee is still awaiting documents to determine whether those in leadership roles and other employees who engaged in workplace misconduct will face appropriate consequences.
I’d vote for any candidate or political party who put an end to VHA as we know it. Otherwise, wouldn’t vote for a one of them. My ignorant dependence on them for healthcare ruined my life.
It just burns my ass when I see that they’ve thrown up another community based outpatient clinic. It’s a goddamn failed healthcare model and a magnet for all the worst people in the field…. and we still don’t have a fast track to the federal courts when denial of care and abuse happens. And they’re just creating super citizens that have more rights and immunity from their malfeasance and malpractice and abuse. Already not much can be done about the denial of much needed medical procedures for even service connected musculoskeletal conditions. It’s a big joke and they’re using appeal to emotion with the veterans shit to push a bullshit jobs program. They should be using the money that they use to build clinics for actual healthcare instead of expanding the theatre performance.
The VA is a place where people go to practice whatever they call whatever in the hell they do in there… with job protections and legal immunity. That’s the worst situation a patient can be in so .. good luck getting justice when you’re treated like a guinea pig and they fuck you up. Or if they just decide to push the eject button on you… good luck getting justice for that.
Yet, doctors arranging for a veteran patient to be criminally assaulted is accepted behavior, which means nothing is done to protect the veteran patients.
The federal courts are derelict in their duties in our democracy.. and this is the problem. You could look at it like the VA system is breaking our democracy. Otherwise you’ll have to consider our federal courts to be derelict in their duties. So much injustice without remedy. These are kinds of things that we see from Russia.
I’ve seen so called therapists, psychologists at the VA who I wouldn’t pay to shine my salami outside VA. I wouldn’t give them a dime and wouldn’t even let them pay me to see me. Had one of them just turn on me once and I have no clue why. Probably had to do with some bogus philosophy that he tried to apply out of the blue because we got along for a while. But anyway, if someone outside the VA tried that shit I’d demand my money back or take them to court. This is one of the many reasons why VA will never work… doesn’t matter if they threw a trillion dollars at the problem. People are forced to see certain people or they’ll just have go without mental health care. And options are limited, and some of the worst people end up at VA. I found a great lady outside VA and everything went great.
The absolute craziest thing about the Department of Veterans Affairs is what a show Congress and advocates for the VA put on. So much big talk and tall tales of pride and success. Then when you actually go and they fuck you, and there’s no justice, you think to yourself, “My God, what a lying bastard country. What a bunch of lying pieces of trash.” My biggest mistake was moving back here after setting foot in Germany. I feel like the biggest fool on planet earth and the saddest part is that I’ll probably die in the USA.
And they’ll concentrate on something stupid like the sex when the whole system is a disorganized mess with no uniform standards or accountability. The denial of care and patient abuse we hardly ever hear about but it happens all the time. The federal courts are responsible for the bad situation because they don’t play their part in our democracy by fixing what the executive will not and compensating the victims of their malfeasance, denial of care, and abuse. The Veterans Healthcare Administration is way worse than any insurance company when it comes to denial of care but they have immunity and unlimited legal resources. Why in hell would they not be derelict?
I think it’s a magnet for all sorts of people who need supervision and aren’t getting it, plus the place has a culture of leeway as far as being fired is concerned. And you got the outgoing VA secretary who straight up said that people shouldn’t worry so much about being fired. So it’s not uncommon even in the areas of mental health for psychologists and the likes to insult people under the guise of some philosophy, which psychology is, and claim that’s treatment. And veterans leave but they stay and make hundreds of thousands of dollars over a decade. Then there’s denial of care for things like musculoskeletal conditions. The whole system is full of crooks and dishonesty. People don’t think critically so they keep going there. Sad.