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'It Is Just Not Walter Reed'
reavo
Member Posts: 2,173
'It Is Just Not Walter Reed'
No, it's not just Walter Reed Hospital. And I know this for a fact.
I did not have insurance for about a year and a half until I got my teaching job. I was in between jobs and also going to school to get my certification, so I had to rely on the VA Hospital in Dallas to "take care" of me. I have never in my life seen such a nightmare in medical care. I was a medic in the Navy and I know how patients are supposed to be cared for. I know about medical staff responsibility, procedure, and also bed-side manner. And all the things I was taught at Naval School of Health Science San Diego was thrown out the window at the VA Hospital in Dallas. It went all the way from the treatment of patients from the clinic staff that you talked to when you walked in the door on down to the Pharmacy where you hoped to get your prescription that day without being told you had to go home and wait for your medicine to be mailed to you. And luckily I never had to stay in the hospital for any in-patient care because reports told that it was an even worse nightmare if they admitted you...
Medical students say Dallas hospital staff incompetent; chief says problems are 'isolated'
The only saving grace I found were the docs. I heard them on more than one occasion screaming at the VA staff to get their jobs done in the correct way. There were times that the docs even openly apologized to me for the care I was given. I got the impression that the docs hands were tied and they were doing the best they could to get things done.
If any of you support the troops in this war and in past wars then PLEASE write your Congressman and let them know you want something done about this. And in your letter be sure that you tell them you want to know exactly what it is they have done to correct this at Walter Reed and other VA Hospitals around the country. Don't just write the letter and be done with it. You have to follow up and make sure they actually do something outside of writing a form letter of concern back to you. This is not the way our veterans deserve to be treated. Not even close.
No, it's not just Walter Reed Hospital. And I know this for a fact.
I did not have insurance for about a year and a half until I got my teaching job. I was in between jobs and also going to school to get my certification, so I had to rely on the VA Hospital in Dallas to "take care" of me. I have never in my life seen such a nightmare in medical care. I was a medic in the Navy and I know how patients are supposed to be cared for. I know about medical staff responsibility, procedure, and also bed-side manner. And all the things I was taught at Naval School of Health Science San Diego was thrown out the window at the VA Hospital in Dallas. It went all the way from the treatment of patients from the clinic staff that you talked to when you walked in the door on down to the Pharmacy where you hoped to get your prescription that day without being told you had to go home and wait for your medicine to be mailed to you. And luckily I never had to stay in the hospital for any in-patient care because reports told that it was an even worse nightmare if they admitted you...
Medical students say Dallas hospital staff incompetent; chief says problems are 'isolated'
The only saving grace I found were the docs. I heard them on more than one occasion screaming at the VA staff to get their jobs done in the correct way. There were times that the docs even openly apologized to me for the care I was given. I got the impression that the docs hands were tied and they were doing the best they could to get things done.
If any of you support the troops in this war and in past wars then PLEASE write your Congressman and let them know you want something done about this. And in your letter be sure that you tell them you want to know exactly what it is they have done to correct this at Walter Reed and other VA Hospitals around the country. Don't just write the letter and be done with it. You have to follow up and make sure they actually do something outside of writing a form letter of concern back to you. This is not the way our veterans deserve to be treated. Not even close.
Comments
This is what happens when ....
<cue modernish music>
"Do you want to become a fully licensed nurse in order 10 weeks?"
"Are you tired of watching the same old day time T.V?"
Trailerpark Sally: "Sure ams Mr.Tv!"
"Then you too can become a nurse in a even shorter time!"
Trailerpark Sally:"Oh but how!"
"It's as simple as working a volunteer shift at your local VA!"
Trailerpark Sally:"YEEE HAW"
.....
I'm with this guy, it's not just this VA either. The whole system is wacky, I spent many a months at the VA with my grandmother... It was like the ultimate "Free clinic" experience, without the hot pregger girls!
I think they need a much better hiring system all around.
I went with a buddy of mine to one of his appointments he had. I don't mean this as racist, so if you read it that way it's your own fault, but 90% or more of the people who work at the Dallas VA Hospital were pulled right out of the ghetto. I've never seen such waste working in one place in my entire life. Once you got to the point where they would acknowledge you with a response it then took you 10 minutes to figure out WTF they were trying to say to you. They were rude, obnoxious, ungrateful shits. All of them.
It was a disgrace. An utter disgrace.
And you're right about the pharmacy too. We spent an hour and a half waiting past his appointment time to be seen by a doctor and then had to sit another 3 hours at the pharmacy for him to get his prescription. It was a shame to see the old sick people having to sit there that long just to get their meds. And then for them to be treated to the ghetto slime that worked there was even more revolting!
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</OBAMA>
I'm pretty surprised at the lack of response tot his post. I know there are some veteran's on this site. I've communicated with a few of you. Why not share some of your stories. I think that if enough people hear them they might be prompted to write their Senators.
Just another note I want to add. I was listening to a local radio show today and heard the host say that when your Senator receives an email from a constituent they usually multiply that times 3,000. That's approximately how many people will hear something or experience something, be concerned about it, but not write their Senator for every one email they get. I found that a bit sad. That's what your Senators are for. Let them know how you feel.
These are the people that went off to fight for their country and came back wounded from the whole experience. We should at least care enough to make sure they are treated humanely. A lot of these people have trouble getting insurance once they are no longer enlisted.
Just for the record, I was involved in this in the 80's asking for reform. My question to the US now is, where the fuck were you back then?
I served 10 years in the Air Force and never saw anything like the mess at Walter Reed...might be an Army thing.
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</OBAMA>
You guys should check out the Daily Show clip on Walter Reed. Jon does a great job at exposing it and bashing all that are involved. You can find it www.comedycentral.com/shows/the_daily_show/index.jhtml it should start automatically on the front page and there are three parts to it....but again it should all get done automatically.
Edit: if at some point it is not on the front page then you can find it in the scroll right below the video and it is named "M*E*S*S", "Bad hospital" ( which is part 2) and "Dodge Caravan" (part 3).
______________________________
"When Saddam flew that plane into those buildings, I knew it was time to kick some Iranian ass!"
-cheer leading, flag waving American
I've never been to a VA hospital...thank god!
I'm not sure if the VA is actually connected with the military...I think it's a totally different dept. within the gov., I could be wrong though.
I feel so angry about this whole thing...like to beat the fuck outta some of those generals! They, of all people, should be taking care of those kids.
They're a god damn disgrace!
I was in the Marines for 9 years. I've lived in worse places. But then again we were just happy not to be in a tent. When I saw the cameras on CSPAN walking through the rooms, I was thinking to myself "Um, what's the problem again"?
Goes to show you the level of whining throughout the different branches.
But yeah, the VA does have too many idiots working there. They should all be prior service or somehing since a lot that get out need a simple job while they go to school on thier G.I. Bill, or disabled. Not hire a bunch of crackhead welfare queens.
To top it all off, the whole VA benefits system has been a shambles for decades now with no sign of getting fixed in the future.
I'm glad you were happy with a tent when you were a twenty-something Marine, but if you had been wounded or were old and sick, wouldn't you appreciate at least some level of care beyond what can be found in a third-world country? Actually, wouldn't you deserve it after your 9 years in the Marines?
VHA deals with issues not even imagined 50 years ago: AIDS, Persian Gulf illnesses, Agent Orange, telemedicine, computerized medical records, homelessness, to name only a few. And the sheer size of VHA -- the largest integrated health system in this country -- would not doubt stagger those early VA pioneers.
Today, VA provides care through 172 facilities, 126 nursing homes and 32 domiciliaries. It has 200,000 employees, treats 1.1 million inpatients and has an average daily inpatient census of 87,504. Its no wonder when you have these statistics, problems with care arises.
When I was in the Navy and needed a prescription, I too waited many hours in a sitting room. Never was in a hospital, but I could imagine the guys in there were treated the same way.
These are people who have had their limbs blown off. Not an enlisted sailor sitting in a Naval Hospital with a snotty nose waiting on some Sudafed. These are people that have given all they could right up to the line just short of their lives. Now they're families are suffering and so are they.
I saw a report last night where a wife of a serviceman had to quit her job to take care of her husband who acquired brain damage in Iraq. She was crying her eyes out telling the story of how she was treated at her local VA Hospital. A little different than you sitting in a comfortable chair in a Naval Hospital happy that you got the day off from your duty to be relaxing there.
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</OBAMA>
I think looking for private companies to take this over would be a wise decision. Then have them assessed once a year to make sure they are maintaining their contract. If not, then that's where the competitive market comes in to play.
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Ward nurses in general were extremely lazy. ... If you asked for a wound dressing changed, you were more likely to have the nurse give you their house and first-born child rather than do this task.
Ha. Not in a hospital, but I've worked with people like that.
np
Some of the main points why conditions are bad and service is below standard is most of the people working there (lower ones) are just doing their time in the service and cant wait to get out. So they dont give a shit. The idea for private companies is a good idea, but considering the military always goes with the lowest bidder, you might end up in the same situation. Maybe.