Thom Tillis likes what he sees at Asheville VA center

ASHEVILLE – Employees at the Charles George VA Medical Center and three others in North Carolina are "doing great things" despite problems with the agency nationwide, U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis said after touring the local center Thursday.

"I'm very proud of the work that's going on in Fayetteville, in Durham, in Salisbury, up here in Asheville. What you want to do is figure why that's not occurring everywhere," said Tillis, a Huntersville Republican who sits on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.

In fact, Tillis said he sees examples of good work going on in centers despite some well-publicized scandals within the Department of Veterans Affairs.

"There are always outliers in very large, complex medical systems. You would always expect there are going to be some problems, but it does not represent the majority of what's going on in VAs in my mind," he said. "If you go out and speak with veterans and the families of veterans, they're very happy about VA."

VA Secretary Eric Shinseki resigned in May 2014 following reports of long waiting times for patients at some hospitals, falsification of data about the waits and other issues.

Tillis has been working with the new secretary, former Procter & Gamble CEO Robert McDonald, on ways to transform the agency and a long-range plan he hopes will guide it even after a new president takes office in 2017.

Tillis, a former corporate consultant, said he has been impressed with senior staffers McDonald has brought in from the private sector and pleased with the effort to change the department so far.

He said he hopes the work will last because, "The folks that run these centers need more certainty. They don't need to have the game or the priorities change every two or three years based on who's coming into Congress or who's coming into the White House."

Tillis said his priorities include empowering workers at individual centers to adapt to local conditions and keeping people higher in the chain of the command from causing problems.

With a few exceptions, "I see very few challenges in the VA centers themselves," he said. "Most of the challenges come from either what politicians tell the VA to do or what bureaucrats in the VA tell the VA to do. If you come out here, these folks know how to provide ... exceptional care."

The Charles George VA Medical Center ranked No. 1 in patient satisfaction among VA centers across the country earlier this year and has a five-star quality rating, putting it in the top 10 percent in the agency.

Tillis, who was accompanied Thursday by 11th District U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows, said that has been accomplished despite problems with older buildings and other challenges.

"That they're able to do that kind of quality work with limited resources really raises the question just how much more could they do if we gave them the flexibility and more resources," he said.

Also Thursday, the center held an open house to acquaint the general public with volunteer opportunities at the center and veterans and their families with services offered by the VA and cooperating agencies.

It's part of a nationwide initiative by McDonald. The center has about 500 volunteers and room for more, said Darlene Laughter, head of volunteer services.