Rolling heads at VA not right answer

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
May 6, 2014

The headlines are about rolling heads at the VA again. Seems that while that may be the fasted answer to the ongoing suffering of our veterans, it isn't the right answer. How about instead of rolling heads folks actually start using them? After all, none of this is new.

Two northwest Wis. VA clinics close over funding problems

Two recently opened Minneapolis VA clinics in western Wisconsin were abruptly shut down this week by the company under contract to run them. Kentucky-based Corporate Health and Wellness says it lost hundreds of thousands of dollars opening the clinics. It blames the closings on a lack of additional funding from the VA.

St. Paul, Minn. — The two clinics that sit idle now opened to much fanfare this summer and fall. The VA said, and local veterans agreed, the facilities in Hayward and in Rice Lake would make it much easier for area vets to get basic health care. No longer would they have to travel long distances to VA facilities in places like Duluth-Superior or the Twin Cities.

But without warning, the clinics closed this week.

VA spokesman Ralph Heussner says the locked doors are an unexpected disappointment.

"It's an inconvenience and we apologize for that," says Heussner. "The reason we set the clinics in those communities is to provide service so the veterans would not have to travel long distances."

When did this happen? December 11, 2007.

This also came out in December 2007.
House Committee Slams VA On Veteran Suicides

Many times during the hearing, both legislators and VA officials stated that "the exact numbers should not matter" in a discussion of veteran suicide; that one suicide is one too many. Still, a lot of time was spent arguing over just how prevalent the problem is.

The hearing was prompted in part by a CBS news story in November on suicides in the veteran population that put last year’s number of veteran suicides at over 6,000. VA officials refuted that number, questioning its validity. But a VA Inspector General report released in May of 2007 found that as many as 5,000 veterans commit suicide a year—nearly 1,000 of whom are receiving VA care at the time.

29 Patients at Marion VA died because of substandard and questionable care

The hospital in Marion, Ill., initially drew scrutiny over deaths connected to a single surgeon, but two federal reports found fault with five other doctors.

The hospital undertook many surgeries that its staffing or lack of proper surgical expertise made it ill-equipped to handle, and hospital administrators were too slow to respond once problems surfaced, said Dr. Michael Kussman, U.S. veterans affairs undersecretary for health.

"I can't tell you how angry we all are and how frustrated we all are. Nothing angers me more than when we don't do the right thing," Kussman told reporters during a conference call after releasing findings of the VA's investigation and summarizing a separate inspector general's probe.

The VA will help affected families file administrative claims under the VA's disability compensation program, he said. Families also could sue.

...........The VA investigation found that at least nine deaths between October 2006 and March last year were "directly attributable" to substandard care at the Marion hospital, which serves veterans from southern Illinois, southwestern Indiana and western Kentucky.

Kussman declined to identify those cases by patient or doctor, though Rep. Jerry Costello, an Illinois Democrat, said those nine deaths were linked to two surgeons he did not name.

Of an additional 34 cases the VA investigated, 10 patients who died received questionable care that complicated their health, Kussman said. Investigators could not determine whether the care actually caused the deaths.

That report came out in January of 2008. We could keep going on this since it has happened over and over again. It never seems to change. It also never seems to dawn on any member of congress to fix it all the way. We're seeing more and more problems repeated while members of congress scratch their heads and other parts of their anatomy, service groups come out swinging demanding action and heads to roll, however, what do they do in between the breaking news and the next big crisis?

Veterans are not a political issue but they should be a priority no matter what party is in charge of the mess or blamed because it didn't get fixed fast enough. President Clinton left over 400,000 for President Bush and he left over 800,000 for President Obama. How many will this President leave for the next one in the chair? The answer depends on what congress decides is worthy of the lives risked for the sake of the nation.

Getting rid of Nicholson didn't work. Replacing heads of the VA has done little good but that is what the American Legion is calling for as a solution to the issues you were just reminded of. They want Shinseki to pay for what was created a long time ago.

"It's a story of poor oversight and failed leadership," said American Legion Cmdr. Daniel Dellinger, who also hailed the former Army chief of staff's decorated military record. "This is the most difficult thing I've ever had to do."

Other major veterans groups did not make the same demand for a leadership change, but all expressed growing outrage over allegations that many veterans have been harmed -- and some have died -- because of delays in cancer screening tests and other types of medical care.

As you can see, nothing got fixed before because people forget they need to make sure that veterans are taken care of 365 days a year for the rest of their lives.