PITTSBURGH — The director of the Veterans Affairs Healthcare region that includes Pittsburgh says he has no intention of giving back a $63,000 bonus despite a deadly Legionnaires’ outbreak that occurred on his watch.

In a Tuesday interview with the media, Michael Moreland says the timing of the Presidential Distinguished Rank Award was unfortunate.

Moreland received the award in April, three days after a VA inspector general’s office review found a variety of failures at the Pittsburgh VA led to the death of five veterans in 2011 and 2012.

Moreland says he has no immediate plans to step down and that he’s meeting his responsibilities to veterans in the 10 hospital regional system that employs 13,000 people.