PTSD on Trial: VA and Air Force Veteran Needing Help

And we should wonder which contractor staffed this clinic for a lot of money instead of VA employees doing it because they love veterans...and usually are veterans.

Trial starting for ex-Air Force major accused of trying to kill his wife and her dad in Broward
Sun Sentinel
Paula McMahon
February 4, 2017

"He goes to the VA that day, looking for help and they just loaded him up with more pills," Haddad said. "This is a guy who was a major in the Air Force, he has a master's degree. This is a stand-up guy, a highly regarded, trusted retired member of the military who served his country."

Thomas Maffei Sun Sentinel / Broward Sheriff's Office Handout
Thomas Maffei, 49, a retired Air Force major from Parkland, is charged with attempted first-degree murder in the November 2012 shootings of his estranged wife and her father in Coral Springs. Both victims survived.

Hours before retired U.S. Air Force Major Thomas Maffei shot and seriously injured his estranged wife and her father in Coral Springs, he went to a Veterans Administration crisis clinic in Palm Beach County and told staff he was under extreme stress.

When Maffei goes on trial Monday in Broward Circuit Court on attempted murder and other charges, he won't dispute that he fired three shots through his then-wife's apartment door as she and her father leaned against it, trying to keep him out.
read more here

Veterans Crisis Text Unanswered by Contractors?

I am sure by now you heard about how veterans sending text messages to the VA Crisis Line went unanswered. The key is within this. "The VA told the GAO it relies on its text messaging service provider to monitor and test the text messaging system, the report says. But the provider said it doesn’t conduct any routine testing." In other words, a contractor otherwise they would have used "employees" or similar language. 

If you look online for government contracts you'll find that most VA Clinics are run by contractors.  Just like the Choice program is, care has been outsourced by politicians writing the rules and paying the bills instead of making sure our veterans received the best care by the VA.  You know, the one Congress has had jurisdiction over since 1946!

Health Net Federal Services, LLC (Health Net) is proud to partner with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to provide a wide spectrum of high quality, cost-effective health care services supporting U.S. Veterans nationwide.

Non-Veteran Owed Business Guilty of $100 Million Fraud

Executive of sham ‘veteran-owned’ firm found guilty of $100m fraud
Boston Globe
By Dan Adams GLOBE STAFF
JUNE 17, 2016

Government regulations mandate that a “Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business” must be majority-owned and managed by veterans who became disabled while serving in the military to receive preferential awards of federal contracts.

A Chelmsford man who won $100 million in federal construction contracts by saying that his construction company was owned by disabled veterans was found guilty of fraud by a federal jury in Boston Wednesday.

Prosecutors said David Gorski recruited two veterans to stand in as the majority owners and top executives of his construction firm so it could win federal contracts that give preference to veteran-owned companies.

In reality, prosecutors said, Gorski controlled Legion Construction as it won numerous Army, Navy and US Department of Veterans Affairs contracts from 2006 to 2010.

Gorski paid himself salaries as high as $356,000, according to court documents, and also paid his wife —who worked full-time for the town of Chelmsford — $400 a week.

Gorski was convicted of four counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to defraud the government. He is scheduled to be sentenced in September, and could face up to 25 years in prison.
read more here