New VA Secretary Not a Health Care Expert

WASHINGTON (AP) — Robert McDonald is a onetime Army Ranger and former CEO of consumer products giant Procter & Gamble. Now he may face his toughest challenge yet in fixing the scandal-plagued Veterans Affairs Department.

The longtime corporate executive was nominated by President Barack Obama to lead the VA and overhaul an agency reeling from revelations of widespread treatment delays and falsified records to cover up months-long waits for appointments.

Veterans groups worry that McDonald may have trouble adjusting to a far-flung bureaucracy of more than 300,000 employees, where hundreds of hospital directors and other career executives wield great power far from Washington.

The White House said in a scathing report last week that the VA is battling a "corrosive culture" of distrust. The VA serves nearly 9 million vets.