How well are Veterans Administration hospitals doing?

Question

During Vietnam, VAs were overwhelmed by influx of WWII and Korean vets coming in because of age, and medical problems. Then got hit by Military pushing in Vietnam vets, some barely weeks out of Vietnam. VA had old technology, was understaffed, under-equiped (not enough beds for paraplegic injuries of Vietnam wounded to turn to prevent bedsores, little physical theraphy, ancient oxygen tanks instead of pipe system, etc.)
Wards were filled with critically ill, when designed for 1/4 critical, actual critical beds were 3/4. Evening and night shifts staffed with one RN and one medical aide.
Little repiratory staff, medical aide did this. Only 2 ambu bags for entire 500 patient facility.
Are things much better now? How long before severly wounded get medical discharges from injury dates.
Friendly houses picking up slack as reported, or too few beds to get all wounded in?
Follow-up care for brain injuries sufficient?

Answer 1

The VA has come a long way, since those days. Thanks to organizations like the Disabled American Veterans, American Legion, and other Veterans Organizations that lobby for better care. Without the countless number of volunteers the VA would be in a lot more trouble. My Uncle a POW from the Batton Death March volunteered helped Veterans with disability claims and participated in PTSD support groups until he died of cancer 2 years ago.

But they are still under funded. The wait for appointments is too long. Right now here in AZ the PTSD clinic has one doctor who comes in once a week. There are countless Veterans, especially those now returning who are NOT getting the long term support they need to deal with PTSD.

My husband is a disabled veteran from the first gulf war, his lungs are permanetly damaged, it's nueromuscular so he isn't elligible for a lung transplant. It's 100% service connected and rated now as permanent and total. But even though our private insurance at the time had allowed him to go to the Mayo clinic and his lungs only function at 20% it took us two years to go through the ratings process. They do NOT have enough people on their service connected ratings boards. We were lucky to have the Mayo clinic taking care of him at that time or else he would not have received the healthcare that has kept him alive.

It's sad we used to go to the VA and there were mostly older Veterans, now there are so many that are so young.

It's not as bad as it was but it still has a long way to go. I will never forget over a year ago we were there for some lung function tests. There was a Veteran who committed suicide in the bathroom because they wouldn't admit him and he knew he needed help with his PTSD.

One of our neighbors is a veteran from WW2, he went into the VA for heart problems. The VA told his family there was nothing more they could do for him, he was having congestive heart failure. His sons carried him out of the hospital and down the way to the civilian hospital. The civilian hospital did a simple angioplasty, that was 5 years ago. The man is alive and well. He pushes his great grandchild in the stroller every weekday when he and his wife watch her. He would be dead if he had stayed at the VA.

My husband went into the civilian hospital because the ambulance wouldn't take him to the VA, just this fall. They felt he was too seriously ill to make it the 20 minutes to the VA. He got great care at the civilian hospital they released him several days later once he stabilized BUT they wanted him seen within 2 days. We had to wait 5 weeks! Even with the medical records sent to the VA and the civilian nuerologist personally called the VA nuerology department.

We no longer have civilian coverage for his nueromuscular disease, because regular health insurance will not cover a service connected illness.

We have to fight with the VA to get him the correct medications that generics aren't available, without these meds he ends up on a respirator.

We are not alone, many people say the VA here in Phoenix is better than most. Pretty scary considering all we have heard from other Veterans.

Indiana has closed the VA in Ft Wayne so now the whole state is served by Indianapolis only. How can they do this when we are adding to our disabled Veterans on a daily basis?

The VA here in Phoenix went through a 'cosmetic' makeover. They made the lobby, the outpatient clinics very nice, spent a lot of money. But the inpatient hospital hasn't been updated. It's awful, not the greatest of places. Not what our Veterans deserve.


People need to realize supporting Veterans and troops are about more than just a bumper sticker! Thanks for asking the question, hope it helps to educate people!

Answer 2

Depends on what day it is, they are cutting back all the while even as they speak gloriously of respecting current and future needs of military service personnel and trying to win their votes. Veterans homes were still taking in families of vets the last I knew, but as they keep reducing budgets and thus staffing the quality of care has declined in the last few decades shamefully. It is an insult and a disgrace we worry more about peoples in countries where they are rallied by propaganda to hate the USA no matter how much food, machinery or monetary aid we give them and we don't take better care of our own veterans. Handicapped or not, when they come back looking for a job or retire from 25 years of service they could starve to death under a bridge trying to live on benefits before reaching social security payment age. We owe them more, that is the bottom line. Yet even as the politicians speak of reinstating the draft, how did these same politicians vote on appropriations for pay, benefits, training, and life saving equipment and new technologies that could mean quicker and more decisive victories with less casaulties on our side? We have let down the people who protect us with their lives, by not paying attention to what those we elect have been doing.