School officials: Wichita VA investigating allegations by surgical trainees
Allegations by surgical trainees at the Robert J. Dole VA Medical Center in Wichita are under investigation, officials said Thursday.
Those allegations have led the KU School of Medicine-Wichita to remove the trainees from a surgical service involving a surgeon at the VA center, school officials said.
The action was taken to protect the learning environment for surgical trainees, officials said.
The VA is investigating the allegations, officials said.
The action stemmed from allegations by surgical residents in post-graduate training, said school spokeswoman Denice Bruce. The surgical residents were removed from the service Tuesday morning to protect the quality and integrity of the training program, said Paul Callaway, associate dean for graduate medical education at KU School of Medicine-Wichita. The removal will remain in effect until the allegations can be substantiated or refuted, Callaway said.
Callaway stressed that the removal applied only to a surgical service involving one surgeon at the Wichita VA center.
Neither Bruce nor Callaway knew the number of surgical residents affected.
They said that any specific information about the nature of the allegations would have to come from Veterans Affairs.
In a statement Thursday evening, John Orrell, public affairs officer for the Wichita VA center, said: “If there is a personnel matter that has to do with any staff member … we will not discuss it for the sake of privacy.”
Orrell also said in the statement: “We are extremely proud of our partnership with KU School of Medicine.” The VA center and the school “truly have a symbiotic relationship,” he said. “We are a teaching hospital, and we are not able to succeed in our mission without that relationship with KU School of Medicine and other health care groups and health care education groups.”
Orrell added: “There have been no changes to our residency program at the KU School of Medicine. Our affiliation with the KU School of Medicine continues as normal.”
Tim Potter: 316-268-6684, @terporter
This story was originally published December 10, 2015 at 7:26 PM with the headline "School officials: Wichita VA investigating allegations by surgical trainees."