The Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) has sharply criticized the VA Waco Center of Excellence for a "waste of taxpayers' funds" with its purchase of a $3.6 million MRI scanner nearly a decade ago.
According to a June 24 report in Stars and Stripes, the OIG cited "poor stewardship" in not using the MRI for the intended purpose of researching traumatic brain and other war injuries experienced by troops from the Fort Hood military base in Texas before and after their deployments to Iraq.
The OIG report also found that the Waco center spent approximately $1.1 million on maintenance during the nearly five and a half years the scanner wasn't being used between 2008 and 2015.
The VA has since hired new leadership at the center, and in April 2015 it once again began using the scanner for brain MRI research. The VA is also in the process of redesigning its supply chain and how it buys and manages high-tech medical equipment, according to the article.
