With Memorial Day
behind us, I’m afraid public attention to the ongoing VA scandal
will vanish until we find out on Veterans Day that no one has done
anything about it, yet, again.
Briefly, from the
Associated Press: “Fake appointments, unofficial logs kept on the
sly and appointments made without telling the patient are among
tricks used to disguise delays in seeing and treating veterans at
Veterans Affairs hospitals and clinics.
“They’re not a new
phenomenon. VA officials, veteran service organizations and members
of Congress have known about them for years ... ‘Cooking the books’
at VA hospitals has exploded into public view since allegations
arose that up to 40 patients may have died at the Phoenix VA
hospital while awaiting care...
“Investigators are now
trying to determine how widespread is the practice of falsifying
records.
“‘It’s not that people
haven’t brought this up before; it’s just the word ‘secret’ lists
blew it up in the media,’ Vietnam Veterans of America’s Richard
Weidman said in an interview. ‘They weren’t secret; they were
handwritten logs kept aside from computerized scheduling… People
should stop the hysteria and say what the root of this problem is.’”
Well, some of the
hysteria has come from reports that some veterans who’ve died were
suicides, mortally frustrated by their inability to get care — as we
learn that bonuses were given to VA employees who falsified the
records to prove their own “competence.”
But I’m sure that
Weidman is correct when he charges, according to AP, that “there are
not enough medical personnel to meet the demand for VA health care.”
He and other veterans groups “have complained for years that the VA
budget — though continually rising — is too small to provide enough
doctors, medical centers and services.”
However, the story
notes: “Independent reports have found that though access is a
problem, VA care is equal to or better than that in the private
sector.”
OK, we appreciate that
information. IF you get care, it’s really good.
I rarely miss the
Memorial Day parade and cemetery service in Marblehead. But this
year, as I watched wreaths being laid for each of the U.S. wars, I
felt not just the usual gratitude for service, but embarrassment for
my country. How could any veteran not receive the best of services
from a grateful nation? Is the problem limited to a few mismanaged
regions, or is it systemic?
That afternoon, I
started my search for information from my World War II resource,
Chip’s father, William Ford of the 107th Evacuation Hospital, which
served our wounded during the Battle of the Bulge. During the family
lunch, I asked “Woody,” now age 95, about his own experience with
the Boston-area VA hospitals; he says his care has been “excellent.”
His daughter and Chip quickly noted that their extroverted father
doesn’t mind the long social time in the waiting rooms.
Chip doesn’t use the
VA. I was surprised to learn that the same is true of my previous
boyfriend and my second husband, though all three are Vietnam-era
vets. I emailed my first husband, a retired Navy officer, and he
responded “Sad situation ... VA is just overwhelmed ... huge #s of
returning (and dispossessed/unemployed) vets who turn to the VA. DoD/VA
spent huge $ on trying to automate their handoff process & found it
to be ‘too hard.’”
He notes that his
younger brother is getting good service locally, but another brother
who works at a lab is the only one qualified to run an assessment
machine that handles four VA centers.
“I’d guess scheduling
is a weak area, but they do well and are on the forefront of many
areas of medicine, e.g., preventing SARS/infections, etc.” my ex
told me.
Good point. When you
see the VA treating serious injuries and fitting amazing prosthetic
devices, you realize that it’s in the forefront of many medical
advances.
I was disappointed that
no mention was made during Sunday evening’s televised Washington,
D.C., Memorial Day Concert, when the host actors could have reached
a large audience about valid veteran concerns. However, the
Marblehead memorial speaker, Marine Capt. Seth Moulton, had no such
hesitation, referring to the “travesty of care by the VA, which
demands serious action and accountability”.
Odd as it seemed for
the town to feature this year’s Democrat primary opponent of
Congressman John Tierney, it’s hard to argue that Capt. Moulton,
with his four tours of duty in Iraq, isn’t entitled to his opinion.
His opening sentence “I believe the Iraq War was a mistake, but as a
Marine I didn’t want anyone to go in my place ...” seemed overly
political for the memorial event, but it reminded me why I’ve come
to think myself that the Iraq War was a mistake. I remember the
exact moment I turned against it: when I saw a letter in a local
paper from a soldier’s father, asking for help sending personal-care
items like cleansing wipes and, later, materials to create IED-resistant
armor for Humvees in Iraq. Somehow, I’d naively thought our
government was supplying these essentials to its warriors.
What I really need is
to consult with my neighbor, Marine aviator Don Humphries, but
that’s no longer possible; his recent death is such a loss on so
many fronts. I hope he’d agree with my conclusion here:
The primary reason we
have government is defense. There is always room for argument about
which wars are defensive and which unnecessary, and to warn that a
government that runs permanent deficits perhaps can’t afford foreign
adventure. However, once our country goes to war, the most important
use of our tax dollars is supporting the defenders, both during and
after service.
I know the VA does
wonderful things, and many veterans praise it. I also know something
is terribly wrong with some parts of the system, and it should be
the job of all congressmen, not to mention presidents, to fix it or
admit their shame.
