Collection:LPB

Genre: Newsmagazine

Place Covered: Shreveport, Caddo Parish, Louisiana, 32.5030511, -93.7236662

Copyright Holder: Louisiana Educational Television Authority

Date Issued: 2017-05-12

Duration: 00:06:38

Subjects: Military | United States. Department of Veterans Affairs | Health Care | Whistle blowing

Contributors:

• Moreau, Andre Host
• Gautreaux, Kevin Producer
• Wilkes, Shea Interviewee

This segment from the May 12, 2017, episode of the series “Louisiana: The State We’re In” features producer Kevin Gautreaux’s report on whistleblowers at hospitals run by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. He interviews Shea Wilkes, a licensed clinical social worker and whistleblower at the Overton Brooks VA Medical Center in Shreveport. He discusses: his discovery of a secret list showing a patient backlog of 15 months; reporting the list to the VA Inspector General in 2013; their subsequent criminal investigation into his actions; filing a complaint with the Office of Special Counsel and discovering that he was not the only whistleblower being mistreated; the recent dismissal of the director of the hospital; and his view of the Trump Administration’s recent formation of an office to protect VA whistleblowers. This segment is a part of the Veterans Coming Home Initiative. Host: Andre Moreau