VA Psychiatrists go public with crisis in patient care case loads

VA doctors protest ‘crisis’
Hospital adds to staff as psychiatrists complain patient caseloads threaten care
Kevin Graman
kevingr@spokesman.com

Amid a revolt by its staff psychiatrists, the Spokane Veterans Affairs Medical Center has begun expanding a behavioral health department strained by an increasing number of veterans seeking help.

In a July 24 e-mail, all four of the department’s psychiatrists and one psychiatric nurse practitioner said they would refuse to accept new patients. They said they could not add to their caseloads, which they said in some cases were more than 70 percent above the VA standard.

“We have an ethical obligation to be available to our patients for timely appointments and communications,” the e-mail said. “We are no longer able to fulfill these obligations to our huge caseloads, let alone offer this to the dozen new patients coming into the clinic each week.”
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VA doctors protest crisis