Kansas City Veteran's Death Behind VA National Review

Death of Iraq veteran from Kansas City leads the VA to a nationwide review of wait times
Kansas City Star
BY MARY SANCHEZ
September 3, 2015

After two tours in Iraq, Issac Sims was determined to be 70 percent disabled from PTSD from his military service. He also had hearing loss and traumatic brain injury, possibly the results of an improvised explosive device that detonated. On the day he died, he’d spent the morning taking his father’s Hummer to nearby fields, bouncing over the terrain, acting as if he were patrolling for IEDs.

Joy.

For the first since her son’s death in what is often termed “suicide by cop,” Patricia Sims said she felt joy.

“This is for the next soldier,” Sims said Thursday.

Her son, Issac Shawn Sims, was an Iraq veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder when he practically goaded police to shoot him over Memorial Day weekend 2014. Sims held Kansas City officers at bay for five hours at his family’s East Side home. He died of multiple gunshot wounds, police accounts said, after pointing a rifle at officers.

Sims was 26.

Now the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will conduct a nationwide review of wait times and occupancy rates for relevant inpatient and other programs, as recommended by the Office of Inspector General. The report assessed Sims’ treatment and was released Wednesday. The report labeled Sims’ care as “inadequate.” The review came after a request by Rep. Kevin Yoder.

That Patricia Sims’ son’s case could possibly lead to substantial action is “one small step.”

Sims’ parents said they had tried in vain to get him help for his PTSD at the VA, a mere 2 miles from their home.

The family said Sims had been told he’d have to wait 30 days for inpatient treatment for PTSD.
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Just a reminder we were told the same thing BACK IN THE 90's and Congress blamed the VA back then too instead of fixing anything!