MARION - A spokeswoman for U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said that the senator plans to meet today with Dr. Michael Kussman with the Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington, D.C., concerning recent events at the VA Medical Center in Marion.

Christina Mulka said Durbin has yet to get a response to the letter that he and fellow Sen. Barack Obama sent to VA Secretary James Nicholson last week. In that letter, the senators demanded some answers to specific questions as to the treatment of patients at the Marion facility.

They also wanted to know what background check was performed by VA officials before hiring Dr. Jose Veizaga-Mendez, the surgeon accused of botching an unknown number of complex surgeries that has led to an unusually high mortality rate at Marion.

An Obama senate aide reports that it is incumbent upon VA officials to provide a detailed account of the happenings at the Marion facility to both senators as quickly as possible.

Both offices have been in contact not only with the VA, but also with the Department of Defense Inspector General Claude "Mick" Kicklighter, whose office is conducting its own investigation into the matter.

The aide said some of the Obama's concerns are 'What took so long for the VA to realize there might be a problem?' And with the higher than normal number of deaths reported due to complications (with surgeries), 'Why were there no safeguards or internal catches to prevent something like this from happening?'"

It's important, he said, that those veterans who received care at Marion and elsewhere get the proper care they need when it comes to necessary surgeries or general care.

All inpatient surgeries at the Marion facility were suspended Aug. 31 after an investigation of the surgical unit by the Department of Veterans Affairs. It was also learned that Veizaga-Mendez, who has since resigned his position, was allowed to practice medicine in Marion despite having to surrender his license in Massachusetts after numerous malpractice cases had been filed against him.

"The recent revelation that VAMC employed a surgeon who had been barred from practicing in another state casts doubt on the adequacy of the VA's system of credentialing and quality control," Durbin and Obama said jointly in their second letter last week to Nicholson.

"It also raises serious concerns about the response to the unusual spike in deaths at Marion earlier this year," the letter continues. "We want to know when the spike in deaths first came to your attention, when you first learned about reports of Dr. Veizaga-Mendez's incompetence, what you did about it and what additional protocols should have been in place to prevent unnecessary risk to the veterans whose care is entrusted to you."