New chief of staff tapped at troubled Ill. VA hospital

MARION -- A Veterans Affairs hospital in southern Illinois where major surgeries have been suspended for more than two years after a spike in patient deaths has a new administrator.

VA Secretary Eric Shinseki says Dr. Farhana Hasan will take over Jan. 3 as chief of staff at the Marion VA. Hasan lately has served as chief of medical service at the VA's biggest outpatient clinic in Columbus, Ohio.

The Marion VA has been under intense scrutiny since August 2007, when a surgeon resigned three days after a patient bled to death following gallbladder surgery.

Investigators later found at least nine deaths between October 2006 and March 2007 resulted from substandard care and another 10 patients died after receiving questionable care that complicated their health.