Westside VA Official Under Investigation

The chief architect of long-range development at the sprawling Veterans Affairs hospital grounds in West Los Angeles has been suspended from duty while federal officials investigate complaints of misconduct, officials said Wednesday.

Word of the suspension of Philip P. Thomas, chief executive officer of the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, came two days after Gov. Gray Davis announced plans to build a state nursing home for veterans on a portion of the 388-acre site.

Officials refused to describe Thomas’ alleged wrongdoing.

Thomas was named head of Los Angeles VA health-care services three years ago with a mandate to put an end to squabbling over development of the federal property, which spans Wilshire Boulevard west of the San Diego Freeway. He had endorsed construction of a home for veterans at the site.

Davis’ announcement about the veterans home came during Memorial Day services Monday at the nearby Los Angeles National Cemetery in Westwood.

The project, supported by state Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson (D-Culver City), quickly drew criticism. as veterans in Ventura County and Lancaster complained that a home at the Westside complex would probably cause such facilities planned for their areas to be scaled back.

On Wednesday, advocates of the proposed Westside project wondered how Thomas’ suspension would affect the plan.

VA officials were tight-lipped about the investigation, being conducted by the department’s inspector general.

“They’re looking at a number of allegations, and I cannot get into details because it’s ongoing,” said Laurie Tranter, a VA spokeswoman in Washington.

No criminal charges have been filed, said Barbara Fallen, a West Coast VA spokeswoman. For now, Thomas has been given a desk job at a VA office in Long Beach--although he was reported Wednesday to be off work and unavailable for comment.

Sources close to the VA in West Los Angeles indicated that the investigation is centered on a worker’s-disability claim made by Thomas. They said the suspension was ordered in late April.

Thomas, 51, came to the Los Angeles job in 1999 from Syracuse, N.Y., where he ran the VA Healthcare Network for Upstate New York.

Los Angeles veterans groups that have criticized past development of the VA land support the nursing home proposal, Odas Flake, a past commander of the state Military Order of the Purple Heart, said Wednesday.