VA Health care slipping back into its old habits.

[DhhD]

http://thehill.com/opinion/op-ed/226014-oversight-needed-on-new-va-law

Doctor initiated appointments are dropped by workers setting up appointments. Then they say the appointed doctor decided to override the veterans doctor's order to cover for their scheduling and/or paperwork mistakes: oh, they over looked the tests that the veteran had made the day of the veteran's doctor office visit. The scheduler somehow thinks that the test the doctor ordered can be ignored or not presented to the specialist. Who makes such decisions and delays proper care for Veterans? Who approves of this? Is there discipline or a writ-up?

You, an advocate, call the VA and the call is rerouted several times until you are hung up on. You call back and call back but the say person sends the calls around again. There is no recording of the harassment. Then it is after 3:50 PM, your phone call will not go anywhere but back on the hook. The veteran never finds out how or who made the decisions that lead to the delays of care. Calls to veterans are messages as many cannot get to the phone before the caller hangs up in the case of the ill; the VA was established for veterans not the caller.

It leads the public to think, what are these workers doing at the VA health care system facilities with the time they are hired to provide for the care of veterans. Improper and disastrous behavior has moved to public debate, verbal rationale and on to Congressional Law.
Deplorable.

[CountAllVotes]

1. Same old crap; different year.

:large

[Basic LA]

2. The Brick Wall.

There's the medical staff, sequestered behind the solid brick wall of support staff. This second group's job is to do everything they can to keep vets from seeing the medical staff. At my VA, if you call for an appointment, you have to leave a message, which will never be returned. Ever. So I drive the 10 miles to get in line to make the appointment, and then get treated like it's a huge problem for them personally. Never a smile or a look in the eye, and I get an appointment for two months in the future at a time of day for their convienance (at which time I can expect to sit & wait 3 hours). It's hell getting over that wall, but once you see the medical staff, they're perfectly fine & seemingly unaware of what goes on outside their locked doors, at that brick wall protecting them from us, the vets.

[Hestia]

3. My b-i-l passed away last week - Vietnam Vet, Agent Orange bladder cancer

My sister said she had nothing but high praise for the VA system here. Got him in when scheduled, staff remembered him each and every time and brought him his favorites during chemotherapy, etc.

I told her she ought to write an op/ed about her/their experiences with the VA system. She loved it, even when she drove him to Ft. Worth every three weeks to a special treatment facility for Agent Orange vets.

I was impressed by how clean the facility was when b-i-l in hospice care at the VA. A friend passed away about 6 years ago at the same facility and it was awful!

I don't know - I don't dispute these stories, but when the VA system works, the people it helps love it.

[The River]

4. This is Republican BS

Just look at who the authors are:
Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.) and Sen. David Vitter (R-La.)
More Republican shit stirring to try and privatize the VA.

I've been using the VA for just 5 years now and I never have problems
getting appointments or follow-up care. They have saved my life twice.

[DhhD]

6. Glad to read that all went well with you. n/t

[The River]

8. Thank You n/t

[Victor_c3]

5. I have to echo what has been said above

I spend a lot of time at the VA. I recently started an outpatient treatment program called PRRC and on a given weekday I have between 2 and 4 mental health appointments. Some are therapy groups, some are classes addressing various therapies. I have at least two one-on-one appointments with a psychiatrist in a week. The quality of care I get is phenomenal - and it's not just my opinion. The same 10 - 15 vets show up to nearly every one of the groups. That is a testament to me of what vets think of my local program. If we didn't like it we'd stop going in a heartbeat. Doctors, nurses, janitors, and support staff of all sorts are generally more than helpful and legitimately helpful to me. I believe that they really do give a damn.

[DhhD]

7. Glad to hear that your local program is helping veterans with what they need to regain their health.