Have you or anyone you know ever had any problems with the Veterans Administration, Military hospitals, etc.?

Question

Army Secretary Resigns in Wake of Scandal
AP
WASHINGTON (March 2) - Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey abruptly stepped down Friday as the Bush administration struggled to cope with the fallout from a scandal over substandard conditions for wounded Iraq soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

The surprise move came one day after Harvey fired the two-star general in charge of the medical center in response to disclosures of problems at the hospital compound.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Harvey had resigned. But senior defense officials speaking on condition of anonymity said Gates had asked Harvey to leave. Gates was displeased that Harvey, after firing Maj. Gen. George Weightman as the head of Walter Reed, chose to name as Weightman's temporary replacement another general whose role in the controversy was still in question.

President Bush on Friday ordered a bipartisan review of U.S. military and veterans hospitals after a scandal over wounded troops receiving subpar care.

Answer 1

I was shocked to hear this, because my grandpa was at Walter Reed around 2002 and they were wonderful to him. I think the person that was overseeing WR around 2004-2007 is at fault.

Answer 2

I have a couple of very negative reports from Southern California; reference treatment of one Veteran, along with some indications of an overall decline in services for Vets there over time.

I also had one interesting report from another state that came my way about four months ago. It strongly indicated a National problem in the quality of operations at all U.S. military related hospitals. The bipartisan review is probably a cover and stall operation while a lot of cosmetic work is done.

On the news we are told of serious stress on reserve and guard units in this country. I add hospitals to a very long list with Katrina response, Immigration response, terror response, economic response, intelligence response, etc. No Response would cover most of what the feds and states are doing; once the one-act farces they stage are over.

One must wonder what the condition is around the country if the Nation's show case hospital is in trouble?

I suggest the federal infrastructure is in a state of deterioration and run like Oz. When you finally get behind the curtain you find some family jokers talking thru echo chambers, blowing smoke, ringing bells, sending money to very big private interests and collecting very fat pay checks.

"Even Lions do not attack the strong." Think about it. Repeat it over to yourself when you think about 911, hospital or other service declines, or any problem you see happening in America.

Keep your respect high for anyone who puts their life on the line for this country and you: even considering that few soldiers in history died while carrying out the orders of a genius; and none died under the orders of a saint.

Answer 3

Yes .on a personal level,took along time to get through the piles of red tape, suddenly missing medical records, going through a Congressional,& lot's of our own leg work.
Felt like we were going against a tidal wave.We won.
But...as in every job, and this was a job, you have leaders and supervisors, as in this insidence the leader was not doing his job and lot's of people were suffering, his having a few bars on his shoulder didn't make him above reproach, he needs to be held accountable for his gross negligence.
I am glad this has been brought to light , wish it had been sooner, makes you wonder how many others are not doing there jobs also.... Our vets, reservists& active duty deserve the best at all times..
p.s The military hospitals overseas, are careless and negligant also,Korea's & Germany's are two that we have had bad experiences with...

Answer 4

No. I am a veteran and currently work with veterans of all eras. In my state the single VA hospital is very good and the outpatient clinics are very good. All in all the vets I come in contact with that use the VA for medical and hospitalization are pretty satisfied. I am sure in larger cities this might not always be the case.

Answer 5

Good grief, don't get me started.
It's like that EVERYWHERE.....Walter Reed just got CAUGHT. I could go on and on with horror stories about almost all the the hospitals I've either served at, or received care at. My husband nearly died being medevaced because of the crapass health care. It's sad: military healthcare used to be very, very good. My father was career military, and I remember all that had to be done was to flash an ID card, and that was it. Now...like I said, it's 'subpar' care all over. It stinks. Just a few days ago, I talked to my husband about moving our primary care to a civilian provider. I never thought I'd do that, but that's how rotten the medical system has gotten. It's like they're trying to get rid of all military medical personel and replace it with civilian contractors, so if the care goes to hell, they can blame it on the miltary and replace it. I'd be really worried if one of my family members was really injured or sick. We'd be up s*%$ creek.

Answer 6

I was hospitalized for a week in the Veterans Hospital South Bronx NY. While the conditions were acceptable. I hardly recieved any attention unless I buzzed for them. The doctors never really gave me any answers and actually came in to cut open my leg while I was eating lunch. I almost got sick in my pudding! Vets are humans and should be treated with respect.

Answer 7

On Monday 26Feb, I had surgery at the VA hospital and the way they treated me, you would have thought I was the most important person in the world. It was the same about 8 years ago when my wife had surgery. I have no complaints.

Answer 8

Yeah, I have a friend in the USA who's hubby was in the Gulf war. Funny how a once healthy guy suddenly went downhill in a year starting with what was "MS" and who is now confined to bed. The care he got was horrible (his wife had to run there every day and they didn't even feed him half the time) and so his wife took him home to care for him, with little support, and she is living a life of hell and has ruined her health and back and broke her foot etc. and I haven't heard from her at all lately so I'm presuming things are really bad. If left in certain positions he can choke on his own spit...I'm sure there were chemical agents used in Iraq but from all she recounted to me they treated him like a dog...worse actually.

THAT is what you get for serving your country?

SHAMEFUL is what it is.

Mixed...that is exactly the type of treatment and problems my friend had....she's in Georgia.

Answer 9

i dont understand of absolutely everyone contained in the medical institution as we talk yet im no longer afraid to flow see them, i only dont have a vehicle so transportation can be a issue, i cant manage to pay for to unlike being in hospitals, ive had to be there myself various cases rationalization for surgical procedures, and it truly ticked me off no longer getting visitors because of people no longer liking hospitals, at one among them the in reality client i ever had even as i became getting my 2 hip surgical procedures became particularly a remedy dogs, if it wasnt for him i wouldnt have had any visitors

Answer 10

I spent 20 years in the military, but I never went to the VA to get free money that everyone else seems to be getting.

I know people who claim they are disabled, and they get all kinds of disability and free money for schooling. They also get free computers.

I personally could have done the same, but I have morals.

BY no means am I saying that service members who were really injured in combat or in the line of duty don't deserve to get benefits.

BUT the VA system is broke and 30 or 40% of the people who claim are disabled are really not, they are just using and milking the system.