In an effort to show support for the Veteran's Administration whistle blowers and President Donald Trump's recent executive order to correct problems within the organization, a group of American military veterans will gather at noon Friday at the John J. Pershing V.A. Medical Center.
The grass roots campaign comes in the midst of pain management specialist Dr. Dale Klein's extensive media exposure after blowing the whistle on policies and procedures he says are hindering quality medical care for veterans at the John J. Pershing Veteran's Administration Medical Center.
"We've become very frustrated with what's happening within the V.A.," said veteran Mike Slack, who is helping to organize the event.
"Several whistle blowers in Arizona, Chicago, Poplar Bluff and other locations have gone public about extensive problems with the V.A. system resulting in many veterans not receiving adequate care or having that care delayed, in some instances delayed for so long that some veterans have died without receiving care," Slack said.
The V.A. whistle blower situation has received extensive national media attention. Recently, Klein was featured in an interview on the Fox News Channel speaking about why he chose to risk his job and career to expose what he called substandard practices.
"We consider these whistle blowers to be heroes and want to show our support for them as many of them have been punished by the V.A., with attempts made to fire them or isolate them, not allowing doctors to see patients," Slack continued.
Since blowing the whistle, Klein says he has been retaliated against by the Department of Veteran's Affairs and for the last year, has been subjected to an empty office and banned from seeing patients, according to a recent interview on Fox News. Klein was also nearly terminated based on "consistent acceleration of trivial matters through his chain of command."
"I do not consider secret wait-lists and manipulations of wait times to be trivial matters," Klein told Fox News. A stay order was then implemented to protect Klein from termination, but the order expires Friday and according to other news sources, means he will technically be fired Friday.
Klein, who has worked for the V.A. since 2015, is a double board certified physician and Yale University fellow. He collects a $250,000 per year salary to help veterans. But rather than working with vets in need of care, he instead says he spends his time doing nothing but sitting in an empty office day in and day out.
The group of demonstrators will meet at 11:30 a.m. Friday in the parking lot of the Highland Drive Church of God, next to the John J. Pershing V.A. Medical Center.
Slack and the group of concerned veterans emphasizes that the demonstration will not hinder the everyday activities at the V.A. and will not violate any laws. A press conference will be held with national media expected to attend.
"This is a heart-stopping moment for the V.A.," Klein has said, "and the transformation can start in Poplar Bluff."