The scandal at the Veterans Administration seems to grow larger each month. A recent audit of the VA showed that more than 57,000 patients are still waiting for initial appointments more than 90 days after requesting them. An additional 64,000 are enrolled, but have never seen a doctor.

This is a scandal that won’t be solved by merely changing one or two bureaucrats at the VA. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich explained why in a pointed open letter to Robert McDonald, the president’s choice to head up the Department of Veteran’s Affairs. He argues that what is needed is a transformation of the bureaucracy.

Gingrich illustrates the problem by using the “Red Bead Experiment” constructed by Edward Deming. He used a bin full of red beads and white beads mixed together. Deming would explain to an audience his intention to gather up just the white beads. He would plunge the scoop into the bin and bring up a mix of both kinds of beads. Feigning disbelief, he would then appoint other people to wield the scoop. They would also bring up a mix of red and white beads.

His point is you can change personnel in a broken system and you will still get failure. People will fail one after the other until the system is changed. Gingrich says that: “The range and scale of the misconduct at the VA shows that the corruption there, like the doomed attempt to isolate white beads, is not just a problem of personalities but more importantly of systems, and it goes to the very core of the bureaucracy.”

He concludes that the VA is a “giant, fossilized bureaucracy” that must be replaced rather than repaired. But he also laments that “entrenched bureaucrats, the unions, and the President, along with many others in Congress” all oppose the systemic changes that could actually work.

We need a future president and Congress who are dedicated to making real changes in the VA. Until that happens, we will be hearing about more examples of problems in the Veterans Administration.