I am a maintenance plumber at a level one trauma Center there are a children's hospital a medical school and VA hospital all right in the same area. There are shuttles that run around the complex. An elderly gentleman sat down beside me to wait on the shuttle he was wearing a Vietnam veteran marine hat . I couldn't help over hear him on the phone trying to find help getting $9 more for the copay at the VA for crucial medicine. This pisses me off beyond words that an eighty year old vet would have to go without medication because of a few dollars. I don't want this to be a pat myself on the back look what I did I handled this one
I share your sentiments 100% This country can pay to resettle Afghans in this country, pay out the wazoo for illegal benefits, foreign aid, on and on and our veterans have to beg for medical attention and prescriptions. Our wounded disabled vets have to rely on private donations for help. This is a national disgrace and politicians don't give a crap. Thank you for helping this vet out. There but for the grace of god go I.
What gets me even more is when they will pay for the medication, but not the drugs needed to prevent nausea, etc, caused by the drugs. Not medically necessary, as well as not providing pain medications to those terminally ill as it might cause addiction or the excess proscriptions look bad on the Dr's script numbers. Yet most of the "opioid deaths" are due to fentanyl. Take an extra drink, hit someone in car and kill them, jail, sell drugs kill dozen, scream about targeting minorities and let it slide. Could pick 100 separate topics today on this thread, highly upset today, and never be off topic. Almost cold and wet enough to go hunting again, being out in the woods in primal mode tends to remove a lot of those civilized thought that drive us crazy.
Yup! Our Vets have routinely been on the back burner when it comes to support. This should never happen.
My First experience with the VA was sitting in the waiting room with my Dad waiting to get the paperwork through so I could be in the system! Sitting across the lobby from us was this young Marine, maybe 20 or so, missing his right leg and bleeding from what I know full well as "Stump Break Down" from using an ill fitted stump sock/ill fitting protheses! The Marine and his father were sitting there before we came in, and were still sitting there when We got called back to the office! It pissed me off to no end to see this poor kid sittin there waiting for help, and not one single nurse, orderly, doctor, or even janitor offered any help what so ever! It was like they were all ashamed to see him and have to walk through the same space as him! No one so much said BOO to him or his Dad! W almost got the cops called on us, when Dad ( Captain ) and I ( Senior Chief ) went off on the first person we could find, demanding why this Marine was just sitting there suffering and waiting for help that should have taken all priorities of the staff! Was basically told to mind our own business and go away! That went over like a depth charge under the keel, Dad exploded and went to find some one in charge, and when he did, it got epic in a big way! Lets just say, there are staff there to this day who run and hide at the mere mention of a certain retired Navy Captain or an Air Force Senior Chief, and security is on speed dial with two of the three bottons already pushed!
Well, I don't have to worry about the VA...because the lost my medical records. I finally got over it. Screw'em. The BIGGEST reason the VA is so screwed up is simple. They are simply too big. Why? Because there is simply too many vets from Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan plus all the other little $hit holes that no hears about or are of little interest. The VA needs to be scaled down and medical ID cards should be issued so that vets can use local doctors and hospitals of their choice, cut out all the paperwork and having to go the VA hospital and VA doctors. But, the best thing the could do is stop these constant, dragged out, war of attrition conflicts that serve no purpose except to make a few rich...but wish in one hand and crap in the other.
The problem as I see it is the V.A. is a gov run program with the massive financial waste attendent with all such gov. ran programs! Too many people getting fat off the system, too many fingers in that cookie jar, and too much over head and zero accountability! Combine that with the attitude of gov employees who are just there to ride that train and do as little as possible while still getting paid, staff who are not only incapable ( read bottom of their class, cannot compete in the civilian world) that get accepted to the V.A as the only employer who will hire them, other staff who shouldn't be in the medical profession at all, and all the functionaries who are not only wasteful, but un needed! The whole system needs a complete overhaul, needs the staffing issues dealt with, and the gross incompetence surgically removed! I hate to say it, but it should be privatized, have the gov. remove most of the qualifiers, basically if you have a valid DD-214 under honorable or medical, you get covered! No more of this stupid rating system currently used to determine the level of care you qualify for! They need good doctors and nurses who are competing against the civilian markets, and staffing who understand that they are there to do their part to serve our nations greatest hero's, not liabilities who are nothing but a necessity of their existence! Finally, we need great care and compassion throughout this system, not only within, but also from our elected leaders! I want to see the V.A. putting out a budget and having congress approve it with out question, as apposed to now, with all the fat and waste, we have every right to demand accountability, and demand it Now! Just think about this for a second, all that money wasted fighting over Covid and those frivolous any trump proceedings, if that money had been used in the V.A. to hire and retain the very best, where would we be today?
Most of the new generations don't remember that we used to take care of our own people. Back in the day it wasn't the government that paid for people, it was the people. If you had the money to give, you gave, people would set up soup kitchens, donation centers, etc. The rich would take care of the poor. They would pay for it out of their own pockets because we wanted to help their fellow man. Today the average American doesn't even speak English... greed and fear permeate the world.
I agree Ura-ki ,, I don't know why the VA ends up the way the do ,, other than what you've stated. I won't mention the VA I'm referring to here ,, but I know a doctor,, fairly young guy ,, down to earth ,, doesn't have his head up his ass . He's taken over a VA hospital/ care center in a neighboring state to mine . We were talking one about VA care , and he said I mentioned some of the same problems he's encountered at his facility. I mentioned that I've never seen the same doctor twice ,, and he said he's heard the same from some of his vets at his center . I think he said he's got about 10 years before retirement,, and he's committed himself to cleaning up and organizing his Vet center. I think he's starting out on the right foot just by talking to some of the vets that go to his center to see what they're seeing. If he can cut thru the governments red tape ,, he might be successful. I wish him luck.
