Discussion for article #223000
At a VFW conference in July, 2012, Obama said, “For the first time ever, we’ve made military families and veterans a top priority not just at DOD, not just at the VA, but across the government.”
Two out of three ain’t bad.
No veteran should have to wait longer than is reasonable for the treatment they need. I think it is incumbent on the government, not just Obama, to look after those who serve the nation in the military. The VA administration and the Congress (who appropriate the funding for the VA) have dropped the ball.
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I think the Surgeon General should be in charge of the VA…I mean what else do they do? That clears up a little of the bureaucracy.
IMHO the VA needs a warrior running the show, not an administrator. Let’s see who Obama appoints to succeed Shinseki.
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As usual, this can be traced back to Congress. We’ve known for over a decade that the soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan would overwhelm the VA, but the funding hasn’t kept pace with this need. How is the VA supposed to have the same resources to deal with a million or more additional wounded veterans?
Then, once it becomes obvious that the backlog is a huge issue, some clown thinks it’s helpful to impose a 14-day deadline in which to see a veteran who needs an appointment. Really? Maybe we should cut more food stamps or school lunches and provide the VA with the resources it needs to do its job.
What I don’t understand is why we, who are apparently so exceptional and who can’t seem to find a war we don’t want to get into, have treated our veterans so badly for so long. This latest thing is just that, the latest thing. The VA, while obviously helping a lot of vets, has been a disaster for many for all of my lifetime, and I’m sure before that. It’s an institutional problem because our congress has never made it a priority, ever. It’s why I always found that “thank you for your service” thing a bit hollow, we have never, as a country, made the effort to give veterans what they deserved.
My Dad, WWII vet (89 years old) has gotten nothing but stellar and extremely caring support from the Oregon VA Hospital in Portland, OR. Service delivery may vary, depending on location.
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Thats good to hear, and I’m not surprised, I wish everyone could say that. I tried not to make some blanket statement that “the VA sucks” because I don’t believe that, I just think the VA is something that should be a much higher priority than it is.
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Totally agree. See my comments on the Limpballs thread…
The President also cannot understand.
My son, an Iraq war vet, has gotten top-notch treatment from the Los Angeles VA and the Nevada VA. The LA VA is fully staffed and huge, but appointments are prompt. The Nevada VA is slow to get an appointment in a primary care clinic because they are severely understaffed, but they have told him, get to the VA ER any time you need care before your appointment. He is treated with courtesy, respect, and supreme competence every time he walks in, from the sweet and cheerful volunteers at the front desk to the providers, and everyone in between. And they call about three times to remind him of his appointment.
The VA has been a lifesaver for him. Sure, fix the understaffing problem where it is needed. They do good work and don’t deserve this kind of ginned up crap that the GOP and media is dishing out. It’s been our experience that everyone on staff are dedicated to good medical care for our vets and are glad to be doing what they are doing. I doubt I’m alone in that opinion.
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I agree
The Surgeon General is the head of the U.S. Public Health Service, which is large agency with a nationwide reach. That’s a full time job, I’m sure.
Not exactly an “administrator”:
He was commissioned a second lieutenant of Artillery upon graduation from the United States Military Academy in June 1965 and was attached to Company A, 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division as a forward observer from December 1965 to September 1966, when he was wounded in combat in the Republic of Vietnam. He returned to Tripler Army Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii to recuperate and subsequently was assigned as Assistant Secretary, then Secretary to the General Staff, U.S. Army, Hawaii, Schofield Barracks, from 1967-1968. He transferred to Armor Branch and attended the Armor Officer Advanced Course at Fort Knox, Kentucky, before returning to Vietnam a second time in 1969. While serving as Commander, Troop A, 3d Squadron, 5th Cavalry Regiment, he was wounded a second time in 1970.
Other assignments include Commander, 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry, 3rd Infantry Division; Commander, 2nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division; Deputy Chief of Staff, Support for Allied Land Forces Southern Europe; Assistant Division Commander-Maneuver, 3rd Infantry Division; Commander, 1st Cavalry Division, as well as G-3, 3rd Infantry Division, 1984-1985; G-3, VII US Corps, 1989-1990; and Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans, Headquarters, Department of the Army, 1996-1997.
and then
Secretary Shinseki was awarded the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit (with Oak Leaf Clusters), Bronze Star Medal with “V” Device (with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters), Purple Heart (with Oak Leaf Cluster), Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters), Air Medal, Parachutist Badge, Ranger Tab, Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge, and the Army Staff Identification Badge.
And then:
This is his testimony that got him in hot water with the bushies when he talked about needing several hundred thousand troops in Iraq. Take a look.
The guy is no slouch and he’s been the finest VA Sec in decades. IMHO, he’s being unfairly smeared because of the failure of Congress.
I have been very well served by Portland’s VAH also. And I hate the “thanks for your service” thing, it was a job I signed up for.
Both Sooner and I know who Shinseki is. We know he was a warrior. I believe Sooner was saying that the NEXT administrator of the VA should be a warrior as well. I agreed with that idea. I also believe strongly that Congress isn’t doing it’s job concerning the VA. And veterans are suffering because of it. Congress doesn’t see real people. They just see numbers. Funding for the VA needs to be increased so that adequate numbers of physicians and psychiatrists can be hired who have reasonable case loads.
While Sooner is being well served there is another member of the Hive who is not. The Arizona branch of the VA is in a shambles and it’s so bad that it has come to be a national story. McCain Sen. Flake (my state’s 2 senators) and Obama are putting heat on the local administrators and they rightly should. No veteran should have to wait for MRI results or months to see a shrink because the one they had quit due to the case load. We as a nation owe it to them to take care of their medical needs. This should transcend politics.
All true, But I hold my first CO, Colonel David Hackworth up as an example up a true warrior. Sadly he is no longer with us.
I’m a retired O6 who served two tours in Vietnam also , believe me when I classify him as an administrator. It’s what many general officers become after O6. Not that he is a bad guy, far from it. Just not as aggressive in rooting out the entrenched bureaucracy as I and other would have liked.
A high-school classmate worked as Nurse Practitioner in the Cheyenne, Wyoming VAH for a little over a year. IN my conversations with her she constantly complained about the medical record system called CPRS- computerized patient record system. From my listening and my own personal experience it seems that this system is the tail that wags the physicians. Docs are frequently interrupted by CPRS to do such urgent tasks such as noting that a patient has picked up their eyeglasses or prescriptions. I’ve written my congress-critters about the need to do a time/motion study and audit of CPRS, it’s one contributor to the Docs patient backlog.
Here is an article that Carol’s husband published last weekend.
I know nothing about the Phoenix VA, my experience has been with LA and Southern NV. LA better staffed than NV but both good facilities. I just hate to see yet another good man smeared by the GOP and everybody jump on his shit before the facts can be ascertained. If Phoenix is badly managed, sure, fire their ass and get good team in there. I expect the mainstream media to get yanked around by the current Republican faux scandal but I just hope that from Shirley Sherrod all the way to the IRS “scandal” that normal people like us can hold off on the smearing and demand for heads rolling til we find out the facts.
And yes. With the massive expansion of Status 6 vets, there needs to be a lot more staffing and funding. No denying that. That’s Congress’ job, allocating resources to support the Department of Veterans Affairs. I haven’t yet seen anyone get on Congress for their woeful shortcomings.