Disabled Vets cannot get care from VA Hospitals...
This is down right pathetic! As most of you know, I recently relocated to the North West. I called the VA hospital in Spokanne to get registered and set up with a primary care team...well, I got this letter in the mail today that said they were too busy to take new patients and that I would have to go to an outside clinic run by internal medicine residents (IMR)for my primary care. This whole situation really pisses me off. I have serious combat related health issues and the VA wants to pawn me off on some outside clinic...all the while Congress keeps passing millions in pork projects[:(!][V]
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That pisses me off. No ands, ifs, or buts.[:(!][V]
Are they trying to pass the cost off on you, too, or will yor bills be covered by your veteran's plan?0 -
Complain to your Congressman. I'll bet he can get you on a primary care team. If they don't stick up for Vets personally then it doesn't look good at election time. 0 -
Note to everyone who is even considering signing up for the military.
The people who will send you in the harms way - DO NOT GIVE A DAMN ABOUT YOU!!!0 -
guys,
dont blame the whole system. the whole system isnt broken. ive had superior service, excellent care, perfect medicines, and free operations since being retired from service at the new haven ct V.A.. i have nothing but praise for the staff for keeping my korean war vet father ALIVE for 5 years for us to enjoy just before his battle ended. so please, only complain if a problem occured and stop blaming everyone in V.A..[^]
tigerclawx, check your eyes, i'll bet theyre brown.
[8]0 -
I find all of the bad press the VA is getting strangly kind of funny. My Dad was a Korean war vet and he had nothing but trouble with the VA from day one, once he left the Army. Why is it big news now?
Dean0 -
bobski,
I don't blame the folks at the VA nor am I angry at them per se. The folks that anger me are the bureacrats and politicians that treat veterans like numbers and see fit to try to bursh them under the rug once their combat effectiveness is reduced or done with.
Dean,
It's big news now because people are finally starting to care.
I'm sorry this compassion wasn't around for your dad when he needed it. Had it been, this current crop of trouble might never have arisen.0 -
ECC, I have been going to the Spokane VA Hosp for over 20 years. I am a service conected retired Vet. I have been going to see the same P.A. for about 13 years. Any time I say fix this or that they send me to Seattle VA Hosp. You might be better off going to the outside clinic.
There is a Spokane gun show on the 6th 7th and 8th of April. I have 7 tables for that show. I have a big Sign that has Qualex Custom Arms on one side and DPMS on the other. Stop by and say hi.0 -
quote:Originally posted by Tigerclaw_x
Note to everyone who is even considering signing up for the military.
The people who will send you in the harms way - DO NOT GIVE A DAMN ABOUT YOU!!!
dont join the corrupt american military. instead, fight for your country on the southern border against the real invaders. besides, once you get in the democrats will be in power and you wont be serving AMERICA you will be serving some poor hungry black people somewhere
Edited by - Mr Cool on 12/22/2006 11:29:24 PM
Back at it again, Mr Cool? This time you're Tigerclaw_X.
Slamming our military will get you the same results as last time.0 -
I'm just curious here. How much of this is because of the protracted nature of the current conflict and the fact that casualties are greater than expected?
I'm just wondering, because I can remember a few years ago when many people (not here) were calling for the closing of "surplus" VA hospitals. I seem to recall that the one in Ft. Wayne was one of the ones on their target list as being a waste of money.
In my opinion, it's like a spare tire; you've got to be willing to pay the cost of keeping it around against the time that it will be needed - like right now. When the time comes to try to put the injured back together, it's a bit late to start the building program and "we're out of space" is a pretty sad and unacceptable response.0 -
Note to everyone who is even considering signing up for the military.
The people who will send you in the harms way - DO NOT GIVE A DAMN ABOUT YOU!!!
You're not fighting for the people
who sent you into harms way.
First of all you signed up to do a job,
do your best to get the job done.
Second and most importantly you're fighting
for the people of the United States,
keep that in mind.0 -
I'm pulling this line from an interviewee I heard on the radio so I don't take credit for it. Neither, unfortunately, can I remember who said it. In any case, the comment made a lot of sense to me:
We went in to this war with not enough planning, not enough equipment, and not enough troops. What makes you think we anticipated the medical needs of our wounded veterans? [end paraphrase]
And yes, it is disgusting that vets don't get what they need. A person whose body is damaged in the service of his nation should not need to worry about medical care, ever.0 -
the following written by an emt(me) working for the contracted ambulance service for the boston vamc system:
it has been my experience that the va system has been flooded with veterans returning from the vaarious conflicts we are currently engaged with. while i firmly believe that each and everyone of you deserves the very best care, logic must be employed here. the system can handle only so many pt's. dr's and rn's can only work so many hours a day and the office's and clinics can only be open so many hours a day. the refferal to an outpatient clinic is not a slight against you. it is an offer of more timely care. whilen you might have to wait weeks to get an appt with your doc at the hospital, you might only wait a few days to see the doc at the clinic. and sure enough, if you have a situation that requires a higher level of care, they'll send an ambulance to shoot your right over to the hospital(i do this almost every shift i work).
now, i would wholeheartedly agree that the gov should be taking money away from some of the less usefull programs it funds(ummmm, the space program???) and putting it in the va accounts but theres drawbacks to that as well. i see millions of dollars a month thrown away by the va. just tossed right out the window, which might have something to do with the reluctance to pour money into the system.0 -
i spoke with some doctors at va and the problems that are occuring are simple....
the TYPES of injuries have changed. it use to be mostly bullet wounds but now the majority are explosions.
and believe it or not, you can call it the miracle of modern medicine when we can save a life with technology, but the fact still remains, that the majority of the wounds received today would have been mortal in years past. but because the value of life is so high....
...and i say this very carefully with all due respect.....
...in some cases, it would have been better to let them die than to have to be alive, mutilated, and living.
doctors can only do so much. its not their fault. and its not va's fault either. the whole playing field has changed.
welcome to modern war.
bad press is good. it will help steer funds where it needs to be. give it time.0 -
I watched a program on the wounded warriors and the incidents of BRAIN damaged wounds is up tremendously. The care for these people is costly and extremely lengthy, (some for the rest of their life) of which they deserve.
The entire system is not broken . We have one of the Best VA clinics and VA hospital availabe right close to us and I never hear anything bad about it from the patients except sometimes the wait to get in on appointment days. I dont use it as I have other outside insurance than Tri Care and am able to go to civilian doctors at no cost to me, In removing myself from the VA boondogle that just makes room for someone far worse off than myself..
As far as military hospitals, the one at McDill Air base in tampa it sucks. Takes 6 months for a retiree to get an appointment and then the doctor is more or less a quack at the retiree clinic.0 -
If the VA is giving you written paperwork that they won't see you or treat you for your service connected injury go to the nearest medical facility and let them fix it.
Then turn around and sue the VA to pay for it....your lawyer is free:
http://www.hhs.gov/dab/guidelines/eaja.html
"Equal Access to Justice Act"
I hate the VA. They almost sent me to collections over prescriptions meds they mailed me for my service injury. Did I mention that I hate the VA and wouldn't mind if they closed the doors permanently and contracted it all out?0 -
quote:Originally posted by Elbesta
ECC, I have been going to the Spokane VA Hosp for over 20 years. I am a service conected retired Vet. I have been going to see the same P.A. for about 13 years. Any time I say fix this or that they send me to Seattle VA Hosp. You might be better off going to the outside clinic.
There is a Spokane gun show on the 6th 7th and 8th of April. I have 7 tables for that show. I have a big Sign that has Qualex Custom Arms on one side and DPMS on the other. Stop by and say hi.
I saved this response and I'll see you at the show if I can make it.[8D]. Seattle is a LONG ways from me! I sure hope I don't have to go there for care.0 -
quote:Originally posted by rong
Note to everyone who is even considering signing up for the military.
The people who will send you in the harms way - DO NOT GIVE A DAMN ABOUT YOU!!!
You're not fighting for the people
who sent you into harms way.
First of all you signed up to do a job,
do your best to get the job done.
Second and most importantly you're fighting
for the people of the United States,
keep that in mind.
Amen rong!0 -
quote:Originally posted by ObiWan
If the VA is giving you written paperwork that they won't see you or treat you for your service connected injury go to the nearest medical facility and let them fix it.
Then turn around and sue the VA to pay for it....your lawyer is free:
http://www.hhs.gov/dab/guidelines/eaja.html
"Equal Access to Justice Act"
I hate the VA. They almost sent me to collections over prescriptions meds they mailed me for my service injury. Did I mention that I hate the VA and wouldn't mind if they closed the doors permanently and contracted it all out?
Yeah, they've taken my disability pay to pay the copay on my prescriptions, b/c you have to jump through hoops to get some of the meds clasified as being service connected...and the primary care docs have no idea of how to do this.0 -
quote:Originally posted by ECC
This is down right pathetic! As most of you know, I recently relocated to the North West. I called the VA hospital in Spokanne to get registered and set up with a primary care team...well, I got this letter in the mail today that said they were too busy to take new patients and that I would have to go to an outside clinic run by internal medicine residents (IMR)for my primary care. This whole situation really pisses me off. I have serious combat related health issues and the VA wants to pawn me off on some outside clinic...all the while Congress keeps passing millions in pork projects[:(!][V]
That, IMO, is an actual crime! To slough a vet off on a clinic run by newbies is unconscionable. Problems like these are not the fault of any one administration. Rather, they are a reflection of what this entire Nation's priorities have now become in the decades since the Viet Nam War.
The VA should never echo the prevailing HMO pinchpenny mindset of the Health Care industry. Cheap is not applicable nor is it acceptable when vets are concerned. If we as taxpayers cannot provide our vets with the best medical care possible, then we have failed them miserably. And as all of you know, I'm not a vet. I'd wager that any politician who is a vet would get top drawer treatment at his or her local VA.0 -
quote:Originally posted by Classic095
As far as military hospitals, the one at McDill Air base in tampa it sucks. Takes 6 months for a retiree to get an appointment and then the doctor is more or less a quack at the retiree clinic.
Are you saying military doctors (physicians assistants) are incompetent quacks? I SECOND that post. In my Active Duty job we were accountable for everything. I've always wondered how those Medical folk in the military get off scott free with no accountability?....and how the "Joint Accredation Counsel of Healthcare Organizations" keeps giving these quacks/clinics accredidation.0
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