Guy Richardson, the former director of the Veterans Affairs (VA) medical center in Dayton, OH, who was reassigned to Cincinnati after an infection control scandal at the center's dental clinic, has now been appointed as a regional deputy network director in Maryland, according to a news story in the Dayton Daily News.
A report released in April by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of the Inspector General confirmed that the Dayton VA Medical Center (VAMC) in Ohio failed to follow infection control policies, putting hundreds of dental patients at risk of infection for nearly 20 years.
The report was the result of a December 2010 review of infection control issues at the Dayton VAMC. That review stemmed from a VA Clinical Review Board's investigation of allegations that, during an 18-year period, Dwight Pemberton, DDS, performed invasive dental procedures on patients in the Dayton VA dental clinic but failed to change latex gloves and properly sterilize dental instruments between patients.
While an internal VA investigation exonerated Richardson, the Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki said earlier this year that there had been a "failure in leadership" at the Dayton VA, the Dayton Daily News reported.
U.S. Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH), who is introducing federal legislation that would let the government fine and imprison for up to one year U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Health Administration employees who intentionally fail to follow infection control practices has criticized the VA for their handling of Richardson.
"I am extremely disappointed to hear that the VA has given Guy Richardson a second promotion after what occurred at the Dayton facility under his leadership," he said in a prepared statement Wednesday. "It seems that the VA believes evading lingering questions -- and promoting staff who may have been responsible for failing to supervise their facilities -- is a responsible answer to a community still outraged that this has even occurred."
Richardson's base pay in his new position will be $167,328 to $173,600, compared with the $167,328 he received in 2010 as the Dayton VA Medical Center director, the story concluded.
