The Department of Veterans Affairs spent nearly $300,000 on televisions that have sat unused in storage for more than two years.
The John. D. Dingell VA Medical Center in Detroit, Michigan, bought 300 televisions in September 2013 as part of a project to overhaul the patient TV system at the hospital. However, a recent probe by the agency’s inspector general found that VA officials purchased televisions that were incompatible with the wiring installed during the renovations, so 282 of them—costing $292,000—have been boxed up in storage for two and a half years.
Officials at the Detroit VA did not communicate with the contractor “in a timely manner” to make sure that the TVs the agency bought were right for the project, the inspector general found. The agency was forced to modify the contract by adding $19,000 in additional funds to change the project specifications to accommodate the televisions. – READ MORE
