Did you know? VA producing its own 'news' program for YouTube

The Department of Veterans Affairs, still reeling from a scandal in which workers across the country played a role in denying health care to thousands of veterans, is still finding the time to produce a weekly video "news" program that is posted on YouTube.

"VA News This Week" is usually a collection of a half dozen or so "news stories" that are packaged together and read by employees, complete with its own puffed up news theme in the background.

This week's hosts are Lena Jordi-Cruzval, a West Point student and intern at the VA over the summer, and Jose Llamas with the Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs.

The VA's top story this week is a clip that encourages veterans to update their beneficiary information. The second story notes that Robert McDonald was sworn in as the latest VA secretary, and the third explains how Congress passed billions in new funding to ensure veterans can obtain health care.

The show ends with a "Did You Know?" segment that notes that August 4 was the 100th anniversary of World War I.

This week's "news cast" makes no mention of the two members of Congress who say VA officials lied to them directly about the shoddy state of affairs at the VA, or the failure of the VA to use its new authority to fire officials involved in the scandal.

This week's "news cast" — its 582nd installment — had just 58 views on YouTube, and recent videos from prior weeks had about 1,000 views.

The VA did not respond to questions from TheBlaze about how many people are involved in producing the show, or how much it costs. The VA says the show is sponsored by the VHA Employee Education System and the Office of Public Affairs.