One individual, fed up with the drama and general malaise occurring at the DORN VA Medical Center and some of the Community Based Outpatient Clinics (under DORN management), decided to sit down and write us a letter about what he/she has been witnessing.
If even 20% of what this person said was true; the DORN VA Medical Center is even worse that we originally thought. Below is one person’s view from the front line of the DORN VA Medical Center in Columbia, South Carolina…
The DORN VA Medical Center (VAMC), and Sumter Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) recently had a staff member who came up positive for the Corona virus. This all began 1st week of July 2020. It took the DORN VA Medical Center almost two weeks (13JUL20) to notify other staff members that one of their own had contracted the disease.
NO ONE KNEW WHAT TO DO
The staff was not properly informed of how to proceed with testing, cleaning, etc. Rammoth Cox is over Occupational Health and was very nasty to quite a few of the employees asking questions. At one point, COVID testing was denied to staff members.
The contract cleaning company servicing the rooms exposed to the deadly virus were not properly prepared, which caused more issues. Staff members became very nasty to the personnel responsible for cleaning hospital rooms. Accusations and threats were made specifically by nurse Latrell Jackson, who threatened to sue the day-porter in front of other staff, and asked in an email “Who is going to clean up the rooms after each patient?”
On July 23, 2020, Infectious Disease finally chimed in, providing information to the already useless information we received. It was entirely too late. Oh, and a real brain-buster; the office/exam room used by one of the staff members who came up positive for COVID, did not get cleaned properly and was instantly used to swab other patients/staff for COVID. Simply incredible.
So, if squabbling about who is supposed to be cleaning up a COVID contaminated room ends up with the room not being properly cleaned, then causes another Veteran assigned to that same room to contract COVID-19 and die; is that not gross or wanton negligence? A careless disregard of your actions and the dangerous potential it could impose, could end up as criminal negligence.
Some sharp lawyer needs to find out if any Veteran was assigned to a room that was not properly cleaned because of piss-poor management and bickering over who had the responsibility to properly clean the room. How many Veterans have died from the deadly Corona virus, all because no one wanted to properly sanitize the room?
COMMUNITY BASED OUTPATIENT CLINIC
SUMTER, SOUTH CAROLINA
Sumter CBOC has long been known to be a toxic environment, because of either the lack of management and/or POOR MANAGEMENT. Currently, the Nurse Manager, Audrey Livingston, is the common denominator in both CBOC’s she manages. In my opinion she is the root cause of single-handedly creating a terribly hostile work environment. Do I need say that such a work environment at the VA is VERY BAD for our Veterans?
Audrey is infamous for piling charges on staff members that have caught her red-handed in allowing her nurses to steal time, allow them to do their homework for their masters degrees while on duty. She has been caught bullying a staff nurse in her office, using another staff nurse, believed to be one of her partners in crime, to add more muscle to her bullying management style.
She will coerce her staff into writing false reports when she has been made aware of any fact finding against her. Her supervisor, Danete Woods, is another partner of hers. She permits Audrey’s behavior and ignorantly agrees with her chubby little leprechaun friend. There is so much wrong with leadership and the part that I have witnessed myself is, in my opinion, bordering on the criminal. I suspect this has been going on way before I witnessed any of this.
Sumter CBOC is literally out of control. The latest rumor is that Danete Woods and Rich have a love child together, which was as a result of hot office sex. Staff members who believe this to be true are angered because Danete needs to stop looking down her nose at people, and preaching morality. It’s unbelievable that Danete got promoted as well. Remember the Army axiom, “you fuck up to move up.”
God forbid if you are a hard worker at the VA hospitals and clinics and are actually doing your job while gladly assisting others without being asked. It seems the helpful staff members are the ones being terribly abused. If a staff member is smart enough to stand up, they are made a target for harassment and made up issues to cause them to fall apart and quit. That’s how the VA gets rid of the good people, and retains many people of dubious character.
ALL IN THE LAP OF THE DIRECTOR
Unfortunately, the DORN VA Medical Center Director (Commandant), David Omura simply does not have the management skills to keep VA employees actually there to do their job and serve our Veterans as our Mission states. Omura’s real skill, is how he is so adept at hiding behind lies like a coward, because he’s afraid the truth about him doing a very poor job will be revealed.
News Flash Omura! Helping leadership to bully their staff magnifies the fact that you are doing a very crappy job and you need to be replaced yesterday! I don’t know how you are still there knowing that you are destroying really good employees that make you look awesome and would definitely make you look like the Hero if you actually made your minions accountable for their lies and laziness.
Two particular nurses were accused of things that were blatant lies to cover for Darlene Bradly, lazy RN who did her homework for her masters degree and was NEVER at work. In essence, she was stealing time and not properly serving the Veterans which is her duty to do. She became “overwhelmed” when she had to administer four flu shots, with no other assignments for the day.
Darlene followed Audrey like a puppy dog and bullied another nurse because of some anonymous emails. Latrell Jackson, LPN who no one could ever find when her patients were ready to check out (according to Audrey, she didn’t have a gallbladder and may be in the bathroom, as if no one else has their gallbladder removed).
VETERANS ARE THE REAL VICTIMS
So apparently being on the crapper is a very legitimate reason for blowing off your duties, although Latrell seemed pretty comfortable talking on her cell phone and surfing the internet after her patients were taken care of by a co-worker.
Jestine Andrews and Latrell Jackson are the biggest gossips and stir all kinds of trouble just by opening their mouths. They were happy to let someone else take the fall for their own involvement of violating Hippa regulations.
Martha Tomlin should pay attention. You aren’t innocent either girlfriend. You were told the truth but did nothing to straighten out the story. Audrey doesn’t think that telling a staff member at Sumter CBOC that another staff member assigned at O’burg CBOC was being fired. It wasn’t just a short mention, it was all the details of when, where and why. That, my friends, is a major Hippa violation.
The lowest kind of person is the one with their greedy hand out asking for things, knowing it’s given from heart, then stab that person in the back with a bunch of lies. It’s sadder yet, when the same greed gives a false sense of entitlement, then they have the nerve to ask for even more! These pathetic people work at the Sumter CBOC, and their leaders hold them in high regard.
Unfortunately, the Veterans are the ones suffering along with a small group of staff members that actually are working hard for America’s Veterans. This is the core of the problem at VA hospitals and VA clinics. All the drama and crap that goes on each and every day deprives Veterans of the level of health care they really deserve.
Commandant David Omura should be ashamed. And the leadership above him that allows his pathetic leadership style to continue, should also be ashamed. For the sake of the Veterans, this crap has simply got to stop.
NOTE: If you have been named in this article and feel what has been said is terribly unfair or untrue, please feel free to write to us. We know that in any dispute there are always two sides to any story. We may choose to publish any or all of what you write, so don’t provide us anything that is patently false or designed to deflect mitigate legitimate criticism. We are only interested in exposing corruption or unethical behavior that is hurting the Veterans. Again, if you feel you have been maligned by any of the assertions mentioned above, please feel free to submit a rebuttal. We have to get some cards on the table so we can find and remove those who are undercutting the proper care Veterans should be receiving.
