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More accountability at VA

The Veterans Affairs Department has proposed rules to make it easier for veterans to link their diagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder to their military service and become eligible for disability benefits.

It’s a praiseworthy move. But VA announced it would make this change almost a year and a half ago.

And the actual change is probably still months away — all while PTSD rates among veterans continue to explode.

This kind of glacial approach is all too typical of VA. However, in light of other recent news, it’s just the tip of a large iceberg:

• The department likely faces lawsuits after revealing that at least three of its medical facilities have infected an untold number of veterans with HIV or hepatitis B and C by using improperly sterilized colonoscopy equipment.

• More than 1,800 Persian Gulf War veterans mistakenly were mailed letters from VA in August telling them they have Lou Gerhrig’s disease — many of whom are not sick at all. A “computer coding error” is blamed for that fiasco.

President Barack Obama and VA Secretary Eric Shinseki have spoken of their desire to create a “21st-century VA” and to bring greater responsiveness to what many veterans have long decried as a deeply entrenched and unfeeling bureaucracy.

But so far, the 21st-century VA looks depressingly similar to the 20th-century VA — and too many veterans continue to suffer for it.

These episodes reflect the daunting scope of the long-term challenge facing Shinseki. In the short term, however, he must get to the root of these issues, and tell veterans in detail what’s being done to fix them.

Then he must see to it that the problems are indeed fixed — and that those found to be responsible for those problems are held accountable.