Report: Demoted District VA head lands new ‘high-ranking job’

The demoted head of D.C.’s Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital is now in a high-ranking post at the VA’s headquarters, according to NBC4 in Washington.

REMOVED as head of Wash DC VA Med Center after scathing audit, Brian Hawkins has landed high-ranking job at VA headquarters, per @NBC4ITeam pic.twitter.com/iqrn2hrFZ3

— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) June 1, 2017

Brian Hawkins’s new role follows his April demotion, which was prompted by a government watchdog’s scathing report warning that patients at the VA center in Washington, D.C., were at risk due to staffing deficiencies and inventory management. He had been in the post since 2011.

{mosads}The Hill has reached out to the VA for comment regarding Hawkins’s new position.

The VA said in April it would take additional disciplinary actions if appropriate.

“VA’s top priority is to ensure that no patient has been harmed. If appropriate, additional disciplinary actions will be taken in accordance with the law,” the VA said in a statement at the time.

The report on Hawkins’s new role comes the same day that NBC4 reported that D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department and top officials at the Washington VA medical center are investigating after the discovery of a missing veteran’s body outside of the medical center.

The veteran was reported missing on May 15, after he didn’t return home from an appointment at the VA. His body was not found until May 17.