Washington (CNN) A report from the Department of Veterans' Affairs inspector general found that the Washington DC VA Medical Center has for years "suffered a series of systemic and programmatic failures to consistently deliver timely and quality patient care," and heightening the potential for waste, fraud and abuse of government resources. The report released Wednesday found that the main health care facility for veterans in Washington lacked consistently clean areas for medical supplies, had staffing issues across multiple departments and that approximately $92 million in supplies and equipment were purchased over a two-year period without "proper controls to ensure the purchases were necessary and cost-effective." According to the report, VA Secretary David Shulkin said he "does not recall senior leaders' bringing issues at the medical system related to supplies, instruments and equipment to his attention" while he was the undersecretary of health. The VA has been rocked by the IG report and Shulkin's belief that Trump administration political appointees, including a top aide, have been working toward his ouster. The report did not find any patient harm, but VA Inspector General Michael Missal said that was "largely due to the efforts of many dedicated health care providers that overcame service deficiencies to ensure patients received needed care."

Source: CNN March 07, 2018 15:19 UTC