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 The officials, who testified in Washington before the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, did not offer specifics about the three surgeons, but Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said the news "is unfortunately a developing pattern of problems of the surgical staff" at the VA in Marion, Ill.
Scrutiny in Marion has mushroomed since August, when Dr. Jose Veizaga-Mendez resigned three days after a Kentucky man bled to death following gallbladder surgery the surgeon performed.
Shortly afterward, that hospital suspended inpatient operations because of a spike in post-surgical deaths and reassigned or placed on leave four officials, including the chief of surgery.
The VA says 10 patients died under the care of Veizaga-Mendez, whose Illinois license was indefinitely suspended last month by regulators. Before the VA hired him, he had made payouts in two Massachusetts malpractice suits and was under investigation there on suspicion of botching seven cases, two of which ended in deaths.
Durbin has asked federal prosecutors to investigate the Marion VA, saying employees have made "deeply disturbing" claims of flawed patient care, shoddy oversight and possibly criminal behavior including document-shredding since Veizaga-Mendez's departure.
Durbin is not on the Veterans Affairs committee but was allowed to take part in the hearing. He pledged Tuesday to push federal legislation to reform hiring practices at VA hospitals nationwide.
Confronted publicly Tuesday for the first time about the Marion matter, VA administrators deflected the panel's prodding for many specifics about Veizaga-Mendez, citing an unfolding VA Inspector General's probe of his hiring at the Marion VA in January 2006 and the 20 months he worked there.
VA officials insisted the department followed a thorough credentialing process in vetting Veizaga-Mendez. The VA generally verifies information supplied by prospective doctors at any of its 150 or so U.S. medical centers through national practitioner databanks and checks for disciplinary alerts by the Federation of State Medical Boards, Gerald Cross, the VA's chief deputy undersecretary for health, told the panel. The VA also checks doctors' references.
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 Applicant doctors also must be licensed in at least one state; when hired in Marion, Veizaga-Mendez had valid, unrestricted licenses in Massachusetts and Illinois. He has since agreed to stop practicing in Massachusetts.
"I think I can honestly say we have a credentialing system at the VA that is the envy of the health care industry," added Kate Enchelmayer, a quality standards chief for the Veterans Health Administration.
Cross suggested there was little reason not to hire Veizaga-Mendez, given his glowing letters of recommendation, his unrestricted licenses and three decades of experience.
When questions arose about prospects that Veizaga-Mendez may have botched surgeries in Marion, Cross insisted the VA took "dramatic, swift, definitive action based on the information we had."
"I'd be very impressed if anyone could have done it faster," Cross testified. "We thought we had enough concern, and we did it to make sure our patients (in Marion) were protected."
Veizaga-Mendez has no listed telephone number in Illinois or Massachusetts and has been unreachable for comment.
Durbin said he plans to address VA hiring weaknesses with legislation aimed at attracting "good doctors and will assure a level of scrutiny, accountability and review throughout the VA medical system."
Separately on Tuesday, the VA said it will send a newly formed assessment team that includes specialists in human resources, labor relations, resolution management and other health care managers to the Marion VA within the next week to assess everything from personnel practices to internal communication and the site's hiring processes.
The group's recommendations will go to Gordon Mansfield, the VA's acting secretary.
[Associated Press; By JIM SUHR]
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