Tampa's VA hospital director Kathleen Fogarty is leaving her post permanently to take a similar position with the Kansas City VA Medical Center.
She made the announcement, she said, so that VA could begin hunting for Haley's new leader.
Fogarty has been absent from James A. Haley VA Medical Center since November. That's when she was tapped to temporarily take over as the acting network director responsible for the Phoenix VA which had documented cases of delayed veterans care and long claims waiting lists. That assignment was going to last at least three months.
In an email message sent to her colleagues at James A. Haley VA, Fogarty announced her decision to take the Kansas City position.
"... Kansas City is home to our family and this opportunity allows me to go home," Fogarty wrote.
She has worked for more than three decades with the VA Health Care administration.
