Do You Know a Vet? Some Veterans’ Hospitals in Shocking Shape
That was then…
Fourteen years ago, an ABCNEWS hidden-camera investigation ignited a firestorm about conditions and competence inside Veterans Administration hospitals.
This is now…
Recently, there have been new stories of misdiagnosis, disastrous management and deficient care at some of the nation’s 162 facilities.
At a hospital near Cleveland, an ABCNEWS hidden-camera investigation found bathrooms filthy with what appeared to be human excrement. Supply cabinets were in disarray, with dirty linens from some patients mixed in with clean supplies, or left in hallways on gurneys.
At a neighboring facility, examining tables had dried blood and medications still on them. In several areas, open bio-hazardous waste cans were spilling over. Primetime obtained internal memos documenting that the equipment used to sterilize surgical instruments had broken down — causing surgical delays and possible infection risks.
Just because you risked your life for your country…
With 130,000 young American men and women putting their lives at risk in Afganistan today, these conditions are particularly relevant. While current soldiers are treated in military hospitals, when they leave the service and need treatment, many will seek care at Veterans Affairs (as the Veterans Administration is now known) hospitals.
“Once you come back to be a veteran, it’s like a black hole, you know — nothing,” former Army Sgt. Vannessa Turner told ABCNEWS.
Turner was stricken with a mysterious illness while on duty in Iraq this past year. She retired from the military on medical grounds, and when she reported to a VA hospital for treatment, doctors scheduled her for an appointment six months later.
Danser is a Vietnam Vet and uses the VA for healthcare. What you are reading here is true and commonplace.
Not a Point of Pride
Veterans who responded to a survey by the American Legion in 2003 said it took an average of seven months to get a first appointment at a VA hospital. In some hospitals, patients have waited as long as two years.
Fundamental Problems
Critics have long charged that the VA system puts patients on a kind of assembly line, passing them from doctor to doctor.
Danser has been passed from doctor to doctor for sever neck pain due to diagnosed degenerative disk disease (DDD) for NINE YEARS. Only relief is pain medication and more MRI’s.
There’s also criticism of how the VA uses residents — doctors still training and not certified in their specialties.
Whose Fault?
ritics charge that one of the big problems facing the VA is that too much money goes toward administration, at the cost of nursing and patient care. The real answer is; WHO CARES? Are these new problems? No, they go on year after year with nothing being done to provide much-needed healthcare for our wounded heros.
One More Problem
When confronted with these details, Perlin said he shared the outrage and promised to look into fixing these things.
But there is one more problem. Many whistle-blowers and critics say if you try to expose the truth, VA managers don’t want to hear it.
Charles Steinert, who worked for Billik in Charleston, says he felt pressure to leave after he complained about some of the building projects and how he was being treated by supervisors.
Nurse Melissa Craven, who also worked at the Charleston VA, says she suffered retribution for two years after she spoke out about some of her supervisors.
Perlin said it is easy for patients and their loved ones to lodge complaints about VA care. “That’s important to us, because if there are concerns, we want to address them,” he said.
But many patients and their loved ones told ABCNEWS that wasn’t their experience — and even worse, many of the families are afraid to speak out.
“They’re afraid to say what really goes on, because they’re afraid any little benefits that they have are going to be taken away from them,” said Denise Soles.
Improvement Efforts
The day after Primetime presented its findings to the VA’s Perlin, he ordered inspections of the facilities Primetime investigated.
They found a number of problems at the Temple, Texas, VA, including poor hygiene, insufficient staffing and low satisfaction among patients and their families.
The VA announced it would bring in new supervisors, reassign some personnel, train others, and begin recruiting additional staff.
Inspectors who went to the VA in Cleveland said it was in good condition. However, after their visit, Primetime received phone calls from several sources saying that the hospital had advance warning of the so-called surprise inspection.
And to those patients who accuse the VA of assembly-line care — that patients go through a succession of doctors — a public relations officer for the VA said it tries to ensure continuity of care, but that may not always be possible.
As for Dean Billik, he has now retired. In a phone conversation on Wednesday, he said he disagreed with the VA inspectors, saying their report was “an opinion.”
Billik said he relied on his staff to supervise nursing and recommend budgets, and if he had renovated some buildings that then were closed it was because he didn’t possess 20/20 hindsight and made the best decisions at the time.
Rep. Ted Strickland, a member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, called for the White House and Congress to approve enough money to ensure that veterans get the care they deserve. GEE, DO YOU THINK HIS REQUEST WILL GET THE JOB DONE?
It’s a “situation that’s crying out for change,” the Ohio Democrat said after viewing Primetime’s tapes.
Veterans and their families agree they deserve better. “They were good enough to go fight for their country,” said Melba Bell. “They deserve to have the best treatment that they could get.”
Denise Soles says that before her husband died he asked just one thing of her: to speak out.
She said Terry Soles told her, “If we can help one other veteran from going through the hell … That’s what we have to do.”
