one, with respect to improving the culture at the front line across the va system. the veterans health administration has an office called the national center for organization development. and that office is looking at an issue of psychological safety and how psychological safety can be improved in va workplaces. psychological safety is a larger term of which i think protecting whistleblowers is very definitely a component. the head of the national center for organization development speaks in terms of four cornerstones of the just culture that is required to ensure that patient care is provided in an environment in which people feel safe and the workplace is as we want it to be. those four cornerstones are transparency, accountability, psychological safety, and risk taking and innovation. those four things need to be in balance. to the extent that transparency perhaps is stressed above all other things, you may get people feeling less safe and/or less willing to engage in risk-taking and innovation. similarly, if accountability is overly stressed, you may sacrifice

one, with respect to improving the culture at the front line across the va system. he veterans health zrirns has an office called the national center for organization development. and that office is looking at an issue of psychological safety and how psychological safety can be improved in va workplaces. psychological safety is a larger term of which i think protecting whistleblowers is very definitely a component. the head of the national center for organization development speaks in terms of four cornerstones of the just culture that is required to ensure that patient care is provided in an environment in which people feel safe and the workplace is as we want it to be. those four cornerstones are transparency accountability psychological safety, and risk taking and innovation. those four things need to be in balance. to the extent that transparency perhaps is stressed above all other things you may get people feeling less safe and/or less willing to engage in risk-taking and innovation. similarly if accountability is overly stressed, you may sacrifice some of the o

va hospitals. the next year mitt romney briefly suggested a privatizing voucher system for the va, veterans groupsinst it and said he was just quicking around a hypothetical, didn't mean it at all. this year, though, something different is going on. at least three of the major candidates are probable candidates for the republican presidential nomination, jeb bush, rand paul and marco rubio have all in quick secession suddenly come out in support of privatizing some or all of the va. why is there happening all of a sudden? why all of a sudden not just one of these guys here or there, but all of those three guys all deciding now that is newly politically pat atable to suggest something a few years ago was a real third rail. one of them you already know about, one of them is that the va has not been doing itself any favors recently. the va fudging the data about those wait times, that's a scandal that led to the resignation of eric shinseki. for those who would like to abolish it, the defenders of the va are in a situation where it's politically difficult to defend the va because it's had so much bad

like the va system and then secondly, guidelines are justt, guidelines. they're not mandates. and so we have had challenges when best practices when guidelines have been articulated before in getting the wide-spread adoption of those in our medical and prescribing2gs community. please speak to that, too. >> so, with regard to the guidelines, we think it is one of the things people feel is that they do neat more clarity because there are important issues of pain that need to be treated. and treated with the types of drugs we're talking about. so we don't want to deny those who their daily living is dependent. so getting clarity in the guidelines. cdc will work with fda, nih, all the other parts to provide those guidelines. with regard to the issue you just articulated with guidelines, this is another space that i actually think we may need to have a conversation about potential legislative help. and that has to do with training. because even if we put the guidelines out, the questions of whether or not those existing physicians and even those

we haven't had the number of veterans go outside the va system and use community care so what we have done is we have redefined the 40 miles, how you measure the 40 miles of driving distance. we believe that will double the number of veterans using the choice card. we think that's a big improvement. we are also looking at other improvements. we are doing marketing. we are doing web sites. we have a public service ad. we are writing letters to veterans making sure they understand the system because many of the cards won out over the holidays and admittedly a lot of people don't look at their malibu holidays. we are looking at everything we can to maximize the impact of the choice act. >> thank you. my time is up. i would say to my colleagues the choice act does offer an opportunity which could use the 535 members of congress there are town halls and our newsletters to help with that. we hear complaints and we would like to be share with them opportunity. >> that's a great idea. >> nothing political but really about this opportunity particularly for the primary care that this could prov

conversation i would say in my time there and certainly a lot of dialogue particularly with the va system and hhs. but medicaid is run mostly by the states. medicare is a big federal program, and within at least military come as you know active military have a different system than the va has. so it's multiple systems as you say. i think they're clearly could be some efficiencies of scale. there is talk about eventually getting to the point where once the our electronic records that can talk to each other looking across the systems in ways that they can be greater opportunities to leverage contracting ability but you're right, right now it is very separate and silo systems. those systems of most americans are in, the private insurance system is a world unto itself with 50 plans in one company in one state. so we still one of the reasons that i think we are higher per capita basically anybody else on the face of the earth is we do have a much higher administrative burden. some of that is private insurance, but the government programs i can't speak for the va or defense department, but at l

va center across the country. >> now billions of dollars have been invested and changes system wide, but is it making a differenceook at wait times at va certains in our area and coming up all new on nbc 10 news at 6:00 airport intruders. just how many security breaches were reported at philadelphia international and where the airport ranked among other major cities. is . >>> new findings show reforms that the va medical system have not led to significant improvement. >> times have changed for waiting to see doctors nbc has a closer look at the findings. >> long wait times still plague veterans seeking medical treatment at medical facilities. that's a year after they promise promised and billions of tax dollars were pledged. >> iraq war veteran bill rausch says robert mcdonald has made significant changes. >> we think the biggest challenge he faces is the culture at the va and it is slow to move. >> the associated press examined va data from august 2015 to february of this year. the worst delays were clustered in southern and western states. the a.p. found wait times of more than 30 days unchanged for veterans to

we haven't had the number of veterans go outside the va system and use community care. so what we've done is we've redefined the 40 miles how you measure the 40 miles that's driving distance now. we think that'll double the number of veterans using the choice card. we think that's a big improvement. we're also looking at other improvements, we're doing marketing, we're doing websites, we have a public service ad. we're writing letters to veterans, making sure they understand the system because many of the cards went out over the holidays, and mentally a lot of people don't look at their mail over the holidays. marketing is necessary. but we're looking at everything we can to maximize the impact of the choice act. >> well, thank you. my time is up, i would just say to my colleagues, the choice act does offer an opportunity and perhaps you could use the 535 members of congress throughout town halls and so on our news letters, to help trub dor that. we hear the complaints we'd like to share with them and an opportunity that -- >> that's a great idea. >> you know and not po

they found traces in the duct work from the h va c system. >> we could not tell what it was. we smelled a chemical smell. >> reporter: melony and fellow manager knew something was not the right when employees in the office building started complaining of headaches and nausea. they didn't hesitate to get everyone out identify. it was it upset to go see your co-workers affect. >> i said i think i'm just anxious, worried, you don't know then you start second getting yourself. am i feeling sick? we're all just really concern right the now and we want to make sure everyone is okay. >> reporter: right now they don't believe any injuries are serious. company officials tell me that they are still having their maintenance people check out the building and then they will determine the exact source of the leak, and then if it can be fixed so people can get back to work maybe by tomorrow. reporting live, from hammington, cleve bryan cbs-3 "eyewitness news". >>> scary day at work, cleve thanks very much. >>> lack horse pike near hammington mall is closed after a car slammed into a utility

so part of the question is will the guidelines be applicable to systems like the va system. and then secondly guidelines are just that, they're not mandates. and so we've had challenges when best practice is when guidelines are articulated before in getting the widespread adoption of those in our medical and prescribing community. please speak to that too. zbr and so with regard to the guidelines, we think it is one of the things i think people feel is that they do need more clarity, because there are important issues of pain that need to be treated, and treated with the types of drugs that we're talking about. and so we don't want to deny those who their daily limit is depend. so getting clarity in the guidelines, cdc will work with with fda, with nih, with all the other parts to provide those guidelines. with regard to the issue you just articulated with guidelines, this is another space that i actually think we may need to have a conversation about potential legislative health. and that has to do with training. because even if we put the guidelines out the questions of wh

why eric shinseki's scout became the story as opposed to what it is going to take to fix the va hospital system. once shinseki was out, we in the white house briefing room kind of lost interest in the story. and to that extent maybe the administration lost a little focus on it too. i would -- i do think there is something to say about the combative tone of the washington centric news media. i also think you talk about the challenge of the beat, my colleague alex chadwick used to say, if you get to a story and there is a whole bunch of reporters already there, go find a different story. i think is good advice generally, but not terribly applicable to what we do. it is pretty rare, unless you get a good scoop on cuba, it is pretty rare that you're going to really be in a whole different playing field than your dozens of very talented colleagues on this beat. >> but when you do those are some of the most important moments. i think that we're all intimately and painfully aware that we're no longer the only game in town. and, you know, there is nobody up here sitting here from, you know, medium or,

system, is he really running this? >> secretary macdonald is not running the va.e might be in charge, but the guy that is really driving this is the va chief of staff who was before that the deputy chief of staff at the white house. a direct line to the white house, obviously the end of the day he is the one talking a president obama or valerie jarrett or someone else at the white house him and he's really the one who is driving this agenda and not secretary macdonald. because we have been very critical. i have personally, but i think he really does want to change things and i think that he does want to have some interesting ideas but at the end of the day he is really getting told what to do. >> by the way, does the white house pays veterans? it seems like the white house would have a vested interest in seeing the va succeeded, but what do you think is going on with the white house in regards to this? >> breslau i want to be clear that i don't think that they hate veterans, but ideologically they do not believe in health care freedom or health care toys. obamacar

august 1st to the end of february, nearly 894,000 appointments completed at va medical facilities failed to meet the health system'sgoals which calls for patients to be seen within 30 days. jon: jury finds dzhokhar tsarnaev guilty among the 30 bombings. 30 teen counts make him eligible for the death penalty. the elections near the tin -- explosions near the finish line killed three people including 8-year-old boy. and 260 people were wounded. the sentencing phase could begin as early as monday. the same jury will decide between the death penalty or life in prison for tsarnaev. our next guest prosecuted terrorist richard reid, the so-called shoe-bomber who attempted to kill 197 passengers on an american airlines flight shortly after 9/11. michael sullivan, also former u.s. attorney for the district of massachusetts. michael, thank you for bringing your expertise here today. the richard reid case first of all, was not a death penalty eligible. can you explain why? >> sure. it was not pause there were no deaths that occurred as a result of richard reid's efforts. he was unsuccessful in igniting his explosive device. s

va hospitals. >>> false-positive mammograms cost the health care system about $4 billion a year. that's the finding of a new harvard study. about 11% of the women in the study had a false-positive mammogram which led to another mammogram or biopsy at a cost of $850 per person. >>> more than 18,000 medical appointments were delayed at least a month at veterans affairs hospitals and clinics in pennsylvania. according to an associated press review of government data from a six-month period. despite this the state fared better with wait times than the national average. >>> to this now. a winner among us. a popp possible winner we should say. they're hoping. >> well time to check your pockets and wallets. turns out you could be rich. >>> left behind. you go through airport security but you don't leave with everything you came in with. today that little bit of your personal property that stays at the security checkpoint and how it's all adding up for uncle sam. >>> after a spectacular start to the week things are going downhill. tracking rain for most of the week, plus cold changes. fi

va in his district. >> today, we know this our entitlement system is out of control. its growth is not sustainable. gerri: he hasn't announced he's running, not yet. chris christie take the stage today calling for changes to an issue most politician are afraid to touch. our political panel weighs in. >>> a simple step to keep hackers away from your devices? >>> plus advice before your next hospital visit on what to do when the insurance company doesn't pay? all this and more coming up on "the willis report" where consumers are our business. friends, we 3r 1 hours away from the deadline to file your taxes. if you are one of the last minute filers frantically running around trying to get this done, there is one question that may occur to you. where exactly are my taxpayer dollars going? here to answer that question is heritage foundation tax policy expert curtis debay. welcome back to the show. always good to have you here. where does my money go? >> well it goes to all sorts of things. i think taxpayers would be surprised to find out a lot of the money goes to entitlement programs like social securi

va outpatient clinic in jacksonville, florida. more veterans waited for health care there than in the entire states of new york and pennsylvania combined. >> you have more folks wanting to come into the system but, again, this is coming at a very challenging time for the va because, again, they ear trying to reset and refocus. >> reporter: the va is building new facilities like this veterans hospital in fayetteville, north carolina, to handle a greater need as the wars wind down in iraq and afghanistan. deputy secretary of veterans affairs sloan gibson says, "as we improve access, more veterans are coming." last month president obama visited the va hospital in phoenix, arizona, where the initial problems were uncovered. >> it's important that veterans now that somebody's got their backs and if there are problems we're not being defensive about it, we're not hiding them. >> reporter: he says the va is chipping away at the problem. and some good news in the data. wait times for va doctors in the midwest, northeast, and west coast states were just as fast as in the private sector. good news in the data wait times to get in to va dock fors in the northeast and midwest and west coast were better

va outpatient clinic in jacksonville, florida. more veterans waited for health care there than in the entire states of new york and pennsylvania combined. >> you have more folks wanting to come into the system but, again, this is coming at a very challenging time for the va because, again, they ear trying to reset and refocus. >> reporter: the va is building new facilities like this veterans hospital in fayetteville north carolina, to handle a greater need as the wars wind down in iraq and afghanistan. deputy secretary of veterans affairs sloan gibson says "as we improve access more veterans are coming." last month president obama visited the va hospital in phoenix, arizona, where the initial problems were uncovered. >> it's important that veterans now that somebody's got their backs and if there are problems we're not being defensive about it we're not hiding them. >> reporter: he says the va is chipping away at the problem. and some good news in the data. wait times for va doctors in the midwest, northeast, and west coast states were just as fast as in the private sector. in washington edward lawrence news4. >>> if you lan to do some shopping in georgetown this weekend or get a look at th

systemic miss management. house committee has a hearing for next week to look in the va's miss handling of those claims. in the sat center, pat ciarrocchi for cbs-3 "eyewitness news". >>> we want to update you on a story we told you at 5:00. search is over for adamaris torres who had not been seen since monday. the she's now, safely back with her mother. >> good news there. >>> thousands are expected to flock to atlantic city for grand opening of the new store. >> take a live look at the pro shop that opened up ten minutes ago. we will tell you why city leaders say they have ruled in more than just another store. >>> plus, helping rebuild lives, the important major milestone that these volunteers reached today. >>> kathy? >>> we're dry for now but not the for long more rain in the forecast, before some warmth really kicks in, and we will head in the weekend, we will have that coming up in the seven day. >>> it comes to an end tonight for sixthers what would a win against the heat do for their lottery chapses. will craig beruby be back next season as head coach. g in m ron hextall will tell us about that

va in his district. >> today, we know this, our entitlement system is out of control. its growth is not sustainable.hasn't announced he's running, not yet. chris christie take the stage today calling for changes to an issue most politician are

va hospitals to receive high doses of opiates. oxy oxyco- oxyco-done and morphine. the director was reassigned and not fired. that's what's happening throughout the system. promises. one -- has been fired as a result of what we learned a year ago. and now look at this, the construction of a medical center for veterans in aurora, colorado. $1 billion over budget. >> what? >> $1 billion over budget. >> one hospital? >> and congressional leaders are saying they're not going to give any more funding until someone actually steps up and takes responsibility for the overruns and delays. some people are saying the va should just sell that hospital at this point. i'm not advocating that. those folks need the care. but someone's got the to step up and say i made this mistake and we're going to get this done quickly and efficiently. big mistakes. >> absolutely. they deserve good service. they're not getting it and it's costing us a lot and it's not -- >> one year it's real bad. >> no kidding. >> have a good weekend. >> thank you very much. >>> meanwhile straight ahead, how does this sound for you switching gears, designer sunglasses for 70% off? and that's not all. we've got

no one for a system that one employee told the washington times was a scam allowing va to report to congress and the american people false progress and eliminating the patient backlog. the internal probe is scheduled to be done by the summer and any possible discipline or extra training would result from that investigation quote if we find any intent to do things that show a lack of integrity, then i'm not afraid to take appropriate accountability action. >>> two men who play action hero roles, one in movies and one in politics, almost teamed up on the world stage. buzz feed reports in a meeting with president obama, russian president vladimir putin actually proposed that steven seagal be named honorary of russia. president obama was in a word, flabbergasted. an official at the meeting told buzzfeed, quote our reaction was, you've got to be kidding. seagal told the moscow times in 2013 that putin was one of the world's great leaders. >>> finally, a journey comes to an end. a dog tag lost on a massachusetts beach has been returned 70 years later to the family of the soldier. a metal detector

no one for a system that one employee told the washington times was a scam allowing va to report to congress and the american people false progress and eliminating the patient backlog. the internal probe is scheduled to be done by the summer and any possible discipline or extra training would result from that investigation quote if we find any intent to do things that show a lack of integrity, then i'm not afraid to take appropriate accountability action. >>> two men who play action hero roles, one in movies and one in politics, almost teamed up on the world stage. buzz feed reports in a meeting with president obama, russian president vladimir putin actually proposed that steven seagal be named honorary of russia. president obama was in a word, flabbergasted. an official at the meeting told buzzfeed, quote our reaction was, you've got to be kidding. seagal told the moscow times in 2013 that putin was one of the world's great leaders. >>> finally, a journey comes to an end. a dog tag lost on a massachusetts beach has been returned 70 years later to the family of the soldier. a metal detector

we have been able to hire someone to work full time on va cases and the expedited review system and hire additional staff to work the cases. our process works. we have been getting relief for whistle-blowers, getting them back to work getting them stays of adverse personnel actions you know. people, i think, feel more comfortable and know about us so we're getting more cases. >> all right. thank you. >> dr. hooker, i want to give you a chance to speak for a minute. tell me what your response is today to the testimony of miss flanz and miss lerner. >> well, i can tell you by illustrating we had a whistle-blower who reported a practice of giving medication to help people who have addiction problems. and you're really technically not supposed to continue giving that medication if someone has an abnormal urine drug screen. so repetitive positive urine drug screens should be a cause for not giving that medication anymore. we had a clinical nurse specialist who reported that practice going on and rather than investigate, they investigated that nurse. he has been sitting in a clinical clerical

va. >>> the government is telling airlines to watch for hacking by passengers. the fbi and tsa said they have no evidence that someone could commandeer a plane's navigation system through passenger wi-fi or in-flight entertainment systems. but a security researcher has told both "wired" magazine and the fbi he connected to airplane networks including when he was flying to sfo for a security conference. >>> happening today, international travel through sfo will get a little easier and it starts today. the airport rolling out an automated passport kiosk in the u.s. customs arrival area. the kiosk will speed up the arrival process. travelers from 38 countries can take advantage of the new system. >>> time now 5:08. rent prices soar in san francisco. what experts say is driving up the cost. >> reporter: good morning, everybody. from the kpix 5 weather center, it is "hump day"! it is earth day. so we are going to get a little help with our forecast with our weather watchers. >> and we are checking can the road ahead and the only thing going on now is a lot of overnight roadwork including both directions of the san mateo bridge. we'll have all your drive times coming

vas. we've been able to get veterans in pretty much on time to west haven. they've done a really phenomenal job there but it is an old facility, it's got an h vac system. it's still got ward style bedding in the hospital. no parking which is a big deal in connecticut. big deal everywhere. so if you don't get the ability to transfer the dollars to the extent that they are unused by va choice, where else do you go for these kind of capital dollars? you're just going to have projects that simply aren't going to get done and dollars that are going to go unused potentially if you don't get this transfer authority? >> that's exactly right. we have about 70-plus line items that money is not movable from one to the other. as we talked about the house mark-up on the construction bill, virtually cut it in half. eliminating many of the projects that are very important to us. we don't have anner an alternative. it is ironic to me congress passes laws to tell us what benefits we need to execute to give to veterans. we're all for that. but if we don't get the money to do it, i can't make the two match. and i think when i look back at what happened in 2014 to the va

committee, this is the same thing whether the secret service va irs, hud, she doesn't have the right to fire people. she has to go through the merit system protection the title five created by congress. unless you change that law and give these people the ability to fire people when they are found in, you know, a proper process, at a speedy process to violate, whether it's sexual assault sexual harassment you'll have this continue -- all these problems continued across the scope of all of our civil service system. the only one exempt from that i understand, is fbi. they get enough time to ask you questions about how many people you've fired. we'll get that on the record at some point i hope. yield back. >> recognize mr. lynch, the gentleman from georgia, the ranking member on the subcommittee for security. >> thank you. i want to thank mr. cummings for allowing me to go in his place. ms. leonhart how do you hold people accountable if you are not able to discipline them? >> the system in place it's a three-tiered system. there's the inspectors who -- >> you're not answering my question. basically, very briefly because i only have a couple

vas. we've been able to get veterans in pretty much on time to west haven. they've done a really phenomenal job there but it is an old facility it's got an h vac system. it's still got ward style bedding in the hospital. no parking which is a big deal in connecticut. big deal everywhere. so if you don't get the ability to transfer the dollars to the extent that they are unused by va choice, where else do you go for these kind of capital dollars? you're just going to have projects that simply aren't going to get done and dollars that are going to go unused potentially if you don't get this transfer authority? >> that's exactly right. we have about 70-plus line items that money is not movable from one to the other. as we talked about the house mark-up on the construction bill, virtually cut it in half. eliminating many of the projects that are very important to us. we don't have anner an alternative. it is ironic to me congress passes laws to tell us what benefits we need to execute to give to veterans. we're all for that. but if we don't get the money to do it i can't make the two match. and i think when i look back at what happened in 2014 to the va b

va hospital scandal. >> the v8 has been a mess for years. the american public generally with like to see the systemork better than it does. there is no reason that it has to be a public -- a political scandal. the white house briefing room kind of lost interest in the story. to that extent, maybe the administration lost a little focus on it also. i do think there is something to it you say about the combative tone of washington media. i also think, when you talk about the challenges of the be, my colleague used to say, if you get to a story and there are a bunch of other reporters there go find a different story. it is very good advice generally, but not always a -- not always applicable to it we do. it is rare that you will really be in a whole different playing field then the dozens of your talented colleagues. >> when you do, those are some of the most important moments. we are all intimately and painfully aware that we are no longer the only game in town. there is no one up here from medium or tumblr or other ways that people are getting their information. that has also created some issues with

system to iran by the end of the year. some analysts say it could under undermine the plan by washington. >>> and "the washington post" at a vanot finished yet. it's one of several va hospitals overbudget and behind schedule. the new va facilities are supposed to improve wait times for veterans. >>> the daily news case there's a crackdown for students in spokane, washington who cannot prove they have legally acquired vaccinations. it is believed be to the first district in the state to take this action. more than 700 students lack complete vaccination. >>> "usa today" reports that smartphones could help detect some earthquakes. a new study shows that phones for serve as an early warning system. the devices could detect ground motion and give several seconds of warning. but the report says phones can only really detect bigger quakes of magnitude 7 or larger. >>> and the cincinnati inquirer reports that lauren hill was remembered as a fierce get competitor. the service was held in the very same arena where she scored her only points for the mount st. joseph's basketball team. >>> this morning, a 21-year-old golfer is on top of

va has been -- has done a lot of good work. private health care providers are expanding their services. it's a way to improve clinical outcomes in a way to save money in systems i just want to know what medicare in particular is doing what you think you can do additionally within the confines of 1834m and whatever statutory restrictions you may have been could you just sort of divide the question into those two categories, where you think the law needs to be changed and what you think it could be doing within the confines of the statute that you are not quite doing at? >> i think the places we can do more art in our innovation centers of the funding we receive for the innovation and i was part of the affordable care care act that we have been given there we are seeing and doing a number of innovative projects that are including telehealth pray that's one place where we are acting. we have several of the things we have funded that included telehealth components that we think are important and i think you all know the statutory requirements with regard to meeting success are very high so it will take time and measurement to improve that that we want to get thos