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VA nominee, faced own challenges at Procter & Gamble
http://hamptonroads.com/2014/07/va-nominee-faced-own-challenges-procter-gambleVA nominee, faced own challenges at Procter & Gamble
By Greg Jaffe and Steven Mufson
The Washington Post
© July 3, 2014
WASHINGTON
Robert McDonald's last big challenge was to push a proud, slow-moving and sometimes bureaucratic company to change. He resigned under pressure as chief executive of Procter & Gamble amid criticism from investors and former executives that he wasn't moving fast enough.
Now McDonald is President Barack Obama's choice to run the Department of Veterans Affairs. His new job: Push a proud, but battered, slow-moving bureaucracy to change.
McDonald, 61, if confirmed by the Senate, will take over a VA that is still working through one of the biggest scandals in its history. A series of reports have found that the VA is burdened by a "corrosive culture" that sought to cover up months-long waits for veterans seeking care in order to make VA executives look as though they were meeting their goals. The massive bureaucracy also faces a shortage of doctors and nurses and a seemingly ever-growing demand for its services from aging Vietnam veterans and troops from the current wars who are applying for VA benefits at rates far higher than their predecessors.
"Let me state the obvious," Obama said in introducing McDonald on Monday. "This is not going to be an easy assignment."