M14 Forum

CPTKILLER

I had eye surgery today in the Ambulatory Surgery Dept at the Pimeville, LA Hospital (roughly 1/2 way between Baton Rouge & Shreveport. The surgery went pretty well. As I was leaving, I was experiencing swelling & they had order a cold compress filled with ice. My nurse asked another nurse if the ice machine was functional. Her peer's comment was "only if money falls out of the clouds, it won't be replaced". My nurse scrounged ice elsewhere.

My real concern is that if the VA won't replace an ice machine for a surgery unit that is busy all day, what other equipment is inoperable waiting replacement? This particular hospital is a turn of the century facility and is a 100 years old (my guess).

With money being spent like a drunk sailor on liberty for our "allies (Afghanistan & Iraq), why do we short change vets with very basic equipment? In my view our priorities are wrong. I'll be OK but what will happen if something serious occurs for a vet. What short cuts are being done
out of necessity?

CAVman

The VA Hospital System.........A Veteran's SECOND Chance To Give His Life For His Country...



CAVman in WYoming

RandyB45

Like any hospital, there are good ones and bad ones. I get all my care at CAVHS in Little Rock and am delighted. If they tried to send me to UAMS, I'd barricade myself at the end of a hallway....

My advice is to get with a patient rep and find out who the better docs are and when the best times to schedule procedures are. Plan accordingly. If you're in the process of filing a claim, ping me. I was a congressman's aide my last 14 months in and will be glad to help.

CPTKILLER

The doc's in most cases are OK here. As stated previoisly, even basic equipment is an issue. The system is corroding.

Boom Stick

I must say that the VA has come along away since the days of returning Vietnam veterans. I have always had good service at the VA and there are some real nice facilities in the Hudson Valley region of NY where I live. That being said, with tough economic times comes cuts and veterans have already served their usefulness to the government. The government has to pay for some 5 time felon to get a sex change while in prison because they are not "comfortable" being as they were put on this earth but can't provide for a veteran's medical needs. Hypocrisy and a G8ddam crying shame

Johnnycat

From the provider side, I think the VA does a great job of delivering quality health care to a large group of people with limited resources.

Could things go smoother, with less wait? Sure.
Could we do without so many protocols, procedures, and paperwork? You bet!
Are there exceptions to the rule? Of course.
But overall the VA is a good model. If there were more resources it certainly could work better.

Unfortunately broken equipment that will not be repaired/replaced is not just a VA thing. It's in private hospitals as well. Welcome to medicine for the 21st century, brought to by our current commander-in-chief.