Who was General Shinseki?
General Shinseki also is known as Eric Ken Shinseki is a retired army general in the United States. Shinseki attended the Military Academy in the United States and graduated in 1965 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. The general, who was born in 1942, served as a secretary of the Veterans Affairs from 2009 to 2014. After graduating from the Academy, Shinseki served in a variety of assignments and was promoted to lieutenant general and was appointed deputy chief of staff for operations within the United States. As an Army Chief of Staff, Shinseki initiated an innovative plan that focused on making the army more strategically deployable within the urban terrain. In 2008, General Shinseki was appointed as the secretary of the Veterans Affairs, which is a department that is concerned with the veteran’s benefits, healthcare, and other aspects such as memorials and cemeteries.
The Scandal
During his tenure as the secretary of the Veterans Affairs, there was a major scandal that rose involving the Veterans Health Administration. The scandal involved problems associated with substandard timely care and the provision of false records relating to treatment timelines of the veterans that sought healthcare services. The officials at the Veterans Affairs presented fake documents regarding how long the patients waited to see the doctor, which was a critical issue that concerned the credibility of the department (Cassidy, 2014). The problems arising within the Veterans Health Administration resulted in a significant effect within the United States, resulting in a situation where the Democrats and the Republicans called for the resignation of General Shinseki. Following the scandal, the general apologized for the issues pointed out in his department and issues a resignation notice. However, President Obama had confidence in him but accepted his resignation with the statement that he did not want to be a distraction.
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Institutions that put Pressure for Change on the Department
Change is inevitable in different departments and organizations, considering that it helps in enhancing the delivery of quality services. In the Veterans Affairs department, changes were a crucial factor owing to the nature of services and operations undertaken within the department. In that case, different institutions and stakeholders engaged in the process of putting pressure for change in the department to promote effectiveness in the delivery of quality services. Firstly, the public played an important role in pressuring for change within the department, considering that the nature of services provided did not meet the required and anticipated standards (Davidson, 2014). The need for improved care play offers an avenue for seeking change in a healthcare department that does not provide quality care to the patients seeking healthcare services. The public engaged in initiatives to seek improved attention through engaging in forums that presented their frustrations.
Secondly, the healthcare industry played a significant role in pressuring for change in the department, considering that the department influenced the credibility of the general healthcare industry. The healthcare industry engaged in defining critical issues and laws that should be followed by the department to promote reliability and enhance the effective delivery of quality healthcare to the general public seeking quality healthcare services. Lastly, the government institution played a significant role in pressuring for change to demand accountability from the heads of the department. According to Krantz (2018), lack of accountability in different departments creates a loophole for failure in the delivery of various services. In this case, the government sought to ensure that the veterans affairs department was accountable based on the records provided regarding the wait time for the patients to see the doctors.
References
Cassidy, J., (2014). Why Obama Should Have Stuck with Shinseki. Retrieved from https://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/why-obama-should-have-stuck-with-shinseki
Davidson, S., (2014). A Tough Report on the V.A. Waiting-List Scandal. Retrieved from https://www.newyorker.com/news/amy-davidson/a-tough-report-on-the-v-a-waiting-list-scandal
Krantz, J., (2018). Dilemmas of organizational change: A systems psychodynamic perspective. The systems psychodynamics of organizations (pp. 133-156). Routledge.
