Sooner or later, government will learn that transparency is the best policy when serving the public good. Ultimately it’s the only policy.

The latest case in point comes from New Hampshire, where the two top officials have been removed from office at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Manchester, pending a review of conditions alleged by a newspaper report detailing unsanitary operating rooms and allegations of substandard care.

The Boston Globe’s “Spotlight” investigative team detailed complaints from staff doctors who say they don’t have the proper equipment to treat patients. Doctors also reported being unable to easily set up appointments with outside specialists, leading to worsening problems in several patients with spinal issues. And in one instance, doctors reported having to cancel surgeries last month because they found rust or blood on their surgical instruments.

The hospital also has been struggling with an infestation of flies, including in the surgical suite, the Globe reported.

Medical center director Danielle Ocker was removed from office. In a statement Monday, VA Secretary David Shulkin said the allegations are serious and he’s committed to fixing any and all problems.

A perplexing detail in all of this is that it took a newspaper report to expose the improprieties going on at the Manchester VA.

When Ocker was appointed director in December 2015, she received high praise from New Hampshire Congresswoman Annie Kuster, a member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee. Kuster, a Democrat, said Ocker “has distinguished herself as a leader within the VA throughout her 30 years of service within the organization, and I am confident that she will continue to lead the medical center well in this new role. With a background in both clinical and administrative leadership, Danielle understands the compassion and dedication that this position demands. I know that Danielle will continue to serve Granite State veterans well in this new capacity.”

On Monday, Kuster called the allegations against Ocker “unacceptable,” adding that “our veterans deserve much better.”

The frustration evident in Kuster’s change of tune reflects the frustration expressed by our own Congressman Mike Kelly when the VA awarded, then vacated, its $75 million contract for a previous manifestation of the VA Butler Health Care in 2013 after the original contractor, Westar Development, was accusing of making false and misleading representations during the lease process. That version was to be built on the former Deshon Woods property in Butler Township.

Kelly was particularly annoyed and determined to crack the VA’s code of silence. “My colleagues in Congress and I have an abiding responsibility to make sure that our veterans and the taxpayers are properly defended,” he said in a statement released in February 2015. “My office will continue to meet its obligation to provide rigorous oversight and investigation as needed to ensure that the reforms called for by the (Office of Inspector General) are made real.”

From very different standpoints and without realizing the similarity, Reps. Kelly and Kuster made similar statements in 2015. Both said they were determined to keep track of progress within the VA bureaucracy, not only in Washington but back in their home districts.

It bears repeating that the local VA hospital and the national-level VA are different entities. The local hospital and staff routinely score very well on metrics used to measure effective service. It gets many praises and few complaints from the region’s 30,000 veterans it serves.

That said, the events unfolding in New Hampshire should serve as a cautionary tale — a reminder that we Western Pennsylvanians have potential for exemplary community relations when the new VA center opens. Let’s not squander the opportunity. Let’s strive for transparency.