VA OIG Report Released On Former Chief of Staff

From January 7, 2022, through June 22, 2022, the OIG received four complaints regarding the, at the time, Chief of Staff, Dr. J.P. Maganito, which included the following allegations:

• The COS provided pregnancy care outside of approved privileges.
• The COS provided substandard advanced pregnancy care to a female patient. 
• The COS provided substandard care during gynecologic surgery and post-operative care for another female patient, resulting in a negative clinical outcome.
• Appropriate credentialing and privileging processes were not followed for the COS.
• The COS providing pregnancy care outside the scope of the COS’s privileges.

The OIG initiated an inspection in June 2022 and conducted a site visit in August 2022. 

The OIG report found that the former Chief of Staff, Dr. J.P. Maganito, violated VHA policy by acting outside of approved privileges and gave deficient quality of care to a pregnant patient as well as deficiencies in the quality of gynecologic surgery and post-operative care he provided for another patient. The report also found that facility leaders failed to follow the privileging processes and VHA policy on state licensing board reporting. 

Overall, there are 10 OIG recommendations that Montana VA, Veterans Integrated Services Network 19, and Veterans Health Care Administration and all are working on action plans. 

“Montana VA deeply regrets the circumstances that led to the investigation by the Office of Inspector General (OIG). We take such incidents with utmost seriousness, as the well-being of our patients is our top priority,” said Duane Gill, Montana VA Health Care System’s Interim Executive Director. 

Prior to the release of this report, MTVA initiated aggressive actions to address the allegations against the former chief of staff. The Montana VA has also been closely monitoring the progress of the investigation.

Dr. Maganito resigned from the Montana VA in August 2022, however, MTVA has sent notifications, to all the state licensing boards, in the states that Dr. Maganito is licensed in. 

The full OIG report can be read at the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General reports website.   

Montana VA serves over 47,000 enrolled Veterans across Montana—an area roughly 147,000 square miles in size. Veterans are cared for by a staff of 1,400 at 18 sites of care across the state.  One third of Montana VA employees are Veterans.  

Veterans can connect to their VA healthcare records, information, and message their VA care teams 24 hours a day through the MyHealtheVet patient portal. Montana VA information, updates, and events are available on the Montana VA website and Facebook page.

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