The House Veterans Affairs Committee is investigating the Northport Veterans Affairs Medical Center on Long Island, N.Y., according to an article on The New York Times website.

The scope of the investigation includes, but is not limited to, the closing of the hospital’s operating rooms for months after sand-size black particles began falling from air ducts.

A July 29 letter to the veterans affairs secretary noted “a prevalence of sole source and ostensibly competitive, one-bid facilities contracts, with a substantial amount of money going out the door for maintenance, but seemingly poor results.”

“The most troubling aspect of the whole situation,” the letter added, was that the management at the Northport center “reportedly became aware of the problem in mid-February yet took no effort to notify the public or Congress until after the numerous media reports emerged.”

Read the article.