The VA Hospital Administration/A Continuous Leadership Problem? The VA Hospital seemingly has problems in leadership from the top. There are some very good VA hospitals and some not so...

mas24 Loc: Southern CA

The VA Hospital seemingly has problems in leadership from the top. There are some very good VA hospitals and some not so very good. I have friends who have nothing but praise for their VA hospital. But, you hear of horrible stories from other VA hospitals. One, being located in Arizona. It matters not what Presidential Administration is in Office. The problems still remain. The VA Hospital Administration has 370,000 employees, and a budget of $200 billion. The VA does not have a leader at the top now. Five candidates are on the list at the moment. Is the VA Hospital Administration just too big to manage?

GENorkus Loc: Washington Twp, Michigan

mas24 wrote:

The VA Hospital seemingly has problems in leadersh... (show quote)

You know how if you only hear the last little bit of a message well, I briefly heard something about vets being able to use civilian hospital because of the VA hospitals being so full. Does anyone know if there is any truth to this?

rstipe Loc: S. Florida

The administration actually wants to privatize everything to incluse VA, prisons, do away with medicare, Medicaid, & social security. That way a monarchy will work much smoother.

jdedmonds

rstipe wrote:

The administration actually wants to privatize everything to incluse VA, prisons, do away with medicare, Medicaid, & social security. That way a monarchy will work much smoother.

Dictatorship, not monarchy.

hookedupin2005 Loc: Northwestern New Mexico

GENorkus wrote:

You know how if you only hear the last little bit of a message well, I briefly heard something about vets being able to use civilian hospital because of the VA hospitals being so full. Does anyone know if there is any truth to this?

There is a program called "Choice", which allows you to go to civilian Drs, if you qualify.... Don't know anything about using the civilian hospitals, though

mas24 Loc: Southern CA

GENorkus wrote:

You know how if you only hear the last little bit of a message well, I briefly heard something about vets being able to use civilian hospital because of the VA hospitals being so full. Does anyone know if there is any truth to this?

Yes, that is correct, because it sometimes took too long for Veterans to see a VA Doctor. But, some Doctors have complained of too slow payments from the government, and have opted out of this program.

mas24 Loc: Southern CA

rstipe wrote:

The administration actually wants to privatize everything to incluse VA, prisons, do away with medicare, Medicaid, & social security. That way a monarchy will work much smoother.

The last Veterans Affairs Secretary, David Shulkin, said he was fired, because he was dead set against the privatization of the VA Hospitals. I doubt any Congress, regardless of party, would allow that to happen. Too many risks?

Blaster34 Loc: Florida Treasure Coast

mas24 wrote:

The VA Hospital seemingly has problems in leadersh... (show quote)

The VA is a massive government bureaucracy that feeds on itself and only gets larger, less effective while implementing its ultimate goal, becoming even more bureaucratic. Yes, the VA as it currently stands, may too big to be effective.

Wes Loc: Dallas

The VA hospital asked me if i would agree to having my total knee replacement by a doctor outside the VA. I agreed and it was done by a doctor near my home.

nicelifter Loc: erie,pa

my dad just passed away after being at the VA for about 5 months in the hospice part ..there was times that my dad would fall out of bed and be on the floor for at least 2 hrs before being found and one time he had to go to the reg hospital cuz they shut down the ER at the VA and he got charged for the hospital visit and the VA wouldnt pay a dime towards the bill

mr spock Loc: Fairfield CT

jdedmonds wrote:

Dictatorship, not monarchy.

It always amazes me how, no matter what the topic there are those who immediately politicize it. This is not a Democrat/Republican issue. If it was I’d ask why the previous administration, with eight years in office did nothing to solve the problem.
It’s just another example of our government always having billions for every cockamamie project but never enough to meaningfully help it’s citizens. Our veterans deserve the best of care.

Thruxton Loc: Indiana / California

I have been using VA Healthcare exclusively for medical care for 15yrs now and am generally quite pleased with the treatment received at the Monterey clinic and the Palo Alto hospital. I currently have an appointment with a highly qualified local doctor for cataract surgery. I have always been treated with compassion, respect, competence and efficiency. The local doc was approved because we are over two hours from the hospital where the cataracts would otherwise be done. Maybe I'm just lucky, but I can't complain about the VA healthcare system.

Blaster34 Loc: Florida Treasure Coast

mr spock wrote:

It always amazes me how, no matter what the topic there are those who immediately politicize it. This is not a Democrat/Republican issue. If it was I’d ask why the previous administration, with eight years in office did nothing to solve the problem.
It’s just another example of our government always having billions for every cockamamie project but never enough to meaningfully help it’s citizens. Our veterans deserve the best of care.

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

The system seems to be a boondoggle to me. Why not eliminate the entire VA system, let the vets go to regular hospitals, and have the government give vets special funding? In this area all I hear are complaints about treatment and vets going back to regular care hospitals to get what they need.

Blaster34 Loc: Florida Treasure Coast

mas24 wrote:

The VA Hospital seemingly has problems in leadersh... (show quote)

I recently went to the VA outpatient clinic (NOT HOSPITAL) in Central Florida the other day to check on Agent Orange status since I served with an AO outfit in Vietnam. This was my first ever interaction with the VA. I was very pleased with the efficiency of the VA in this specific circumstance....in and out within an hour and received a letter for an immediate AO screening within 2 weeks. Now I know this doesn't represent all the VA's in the US but at least for me, my first experience with the VA was quite pleasant. However the horror stories continue throughout the country and those issues need to be addressed with firm leadership and immediate action at each facility where issues arise. A government job is a job forever, maybe that needs to be changed and merit should count more than longevity.

As and end note, I will say my former wife worked at a VA hospital in SC while I was on active duty in the 70's and the horror stories she told were numerous....seems some of the major issues are still there after all these years.