ProPublica reports service interruptions at East Orange veterans hospital

Operating-room services were unavailable for periods at East Orange’s VA Medical Center, ProPublica reported in an investigation published November 11.

The investigation described past periods when operating-room services were unavailable and a months-long suspension of radiation treatment. Its account focused on the medical center; a separate federal survey covered occupational categories across the VA New Jersey Healthcare System in East Orange.

In the survey, Veterans Health Administration officials designated 91 occupation categories as severe shortages for the New Jersey system: 61 clinical and 30 nonclinical. The VA Office of Inspector General dated its fiscal 2026 report September 11.

The inspector general said the questionnaire captured officials’ assessments at a point in time and that it did not validate their responses. An occupation can receive the designation even when it has no vacancies, the report explains. The 91 categories therefore do not represent a count of unfilled jobs.

VA spokesperson Quinn Slaven told ProPublica that care had improved. The agency cited East Orange’s performance against private hospitals on selected measures, including diabetes care and some cancer screenings.

Slaven also said East Orange completed more appointments in fiscal 2025, from October 2024 through September 2025, than in any year of the Biden administration. That comparison covers completed appointments across a fiscal year, while the reported interruptions concern particular services.