VA secretary Bob McDonald puts his cellphone number where his mouth is

New Veterans Affairs Secretary Bob McDonald has talked about bringing a culture of transparency to the department, but he proved it Monday by giving his cellphone number to a room of reporters — and having it aired live on C-SPAN.

During his first press conference since taking over in late July at the VA, Mr. McDonald promised a closer working relationship with members of Congress and veterans service organizations, all of whom have his cellphone number, he said. When he said he also wanted a better relationship with the press, a reporter asked for his cell number too — and the new secretary didn’t miss a beat in giving it out.

It was a stark sign of the changes Mr. McDonald has vowed at a department reeling from accusations that veterans died while on secret waiting lists, and others didn’t get the care they needed, while bureaucrats earned bonuses for meeting numerical targets.

That needs to change, said Mr. McDonald, who has toured a number of VA hospitals to get a first-hand look at the situation.

“I think the biggest takeaway for me from talking to employees was that we need to open up the culture,” he said. “I got the impression that employees thought the secretary, like a CEO of a company, was at the apex of the pyramid and that the veterans were on the bottom of the pyramid and I don’t like that idea. So one of the things I’m trying to do is create a nonhierarchical organization where the veteran is on top.”

In addition to giving out his cell number, which any veteran can now get from the C-SPAN video, Mr. McDonald also said he’s asked employees to call him Bob, not “sir” or “Mr. Secretary,” and he asked reporters to do the same.

Mike Helm, the national commander of the American Legion, said it will take a lot more to restore faith with veterans, who are looking for leaders to fulfill their promise to change the culture and provide timely, high-quality healthcare.

“When we see a veteran going to any VA all across that nation and asking for an appointment and getting that appointment in a timely manner, and at the same time those vets are getting their compensation in a timely manner, we’ve got a lot more faith in that timely response than a cellphone number,” Mr. Helm said.

He also said he didn’t think veterans would call Mr. McDonald to share personal struggles they’ve had with the department.

“I think most veterans understand that the secretary of the VA is not the one who’s actually providing that healthcare and when they need healthcare they’re going to go seek that on an individual basis,” he said.

Mr. McDonald also revealed his plan for his first 90 days in office, including a number of initiatives the department has already started, such as trying to recruit top talent or asking employees to suggest ideas for streamlining work and getting patients better care.

“If we have work that doesn’t add value to the veteran, we’ll simply stop doing it so we can redeploy resources more toward the veteran,” he said.

Mr. McDonald said the department had proposed disciplinary action for three senior executive service members at the Phoenix facility that sparked the scrutiny of veterans’ care earlier this year. He also listed a few other employees across the country who had either retired or been put on administrative leave.

“We are as impatient as you are and we have 100 investigations ongoing. While those investigations are going on, we’re not allowed to take definitive action, but we’re doing all we can,” he said.

Mr. McDonald is expected to appear before the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Tuesday morning to testify on an inspector general report about problems at the Phoenix facility that was released in late August.