VA Hospitals:

[email hidden] (sammy D.) wrote in part:

Quoted message said:

Did anyone see the report on VA Hospitals last night?

No.
--
Jim Chinnis Warrenton, Virginia, USA

"sammy D." <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Did anyone see the report on VA Hospitals last night?

Some VA Hospitals In Shocking Shape ABCNEWS.com
April 9, 2004,

Fourteen years ago, an ABCNEWS hidden-camera
investigation ignited a firestorm about conditions and
competence inside Veterans Administration hospitals.

Recently, there have been new stories of misdiagnosis,
disastrous management and deficient care at some of
the nation's 162 facilities.

At a hospital near Cleveland, an ABCNEWS hidden-
camera investigation found bathrooms filthy with
what appeared to be human excrement. Supply cabinets
were in disarray, with dirty linens from some
patients mixed in with clean supplies, or left in
hallways on gurneys.

At a neighboring facility, examining tables had dried
blood and medications still on them. In several areas,
open bio-hazardous waste cans were spilling over.
Primetime obtained internal memos documenting that the
equipment used to sterilize surgical instruments had
broken down - causing surgical delays and possible
infection risks.

With 130,000 young American men and women putting
their lives at risk in Iraq today, these conditions
are particularly relevant. While current soldiers are
treated in military hospitals, when they leave the
service and need treatment, many will seek care at
Veterans Affairs (as the Veterans Administration is
now known) hospitals.

"Once you come back to be a veteran, it's like a black
hole, you know - nothing," former Army Sgt. Vannessa
Turner told ABCNEWS.

Turner was stricken with a mysterious illness while on
duty in Iraq this past year. She retired from the
military on medical grounds, and when she reported to
a VA hospital for treatment, doctors scheduled her for
an appointment six months later.

Not a Point of Pride

Veterans who responded to a survey by the American
Legion in 2003 said it took an average of seven months
to get a first appointment at a VA hospital. In some
hospitals, patients have waited as long as two years.

In 1999, Jack Christensen, a former army sergeant who
served in the Korean War, was admitted to the VA
hospital in Temple, Texas, with pneumonia, and ended
up staying three years.

Christensen's wife, Pat, says the attitude of some of
the practical nurses was shocking. Some of the
patients were forced to beg for food and water, she
says. Instead of helping her husband go to the
bathroom, she said, "they would put a towel under his
hips and tell him to use the towel."

Pat Christensen said her husband's condition worsened
over several months - so badly that at one point he
developed horrific bedsores and dangerous infections,
and she says his doctors said they would have to
amputate his legs.

Pat moved her husband to a private facility, where his
infection healed and he underwent extensive physical
therapy. She sued the VA, and then used the money to
pay for private care for her husband. The VA denied
liability but paid a settlement.

Dr. Jonathan Perlin, the deputy undersecretary for
health, said the VA system has sophisticated
quality control. But when he was shown ABCNEWS'
hidden-camera video of hallways and supply closets
in disarray, he said, "This is something we're not
proud of."

Fundamental Problems

Critics have long charged that the VA system puts
patients on a kind of assembly line, passing them from
doctor to doctor.

There's also criticism of how the VA uses residents -
doctors still training and not certified in their
specialties.

Terry Soles served in the Navy during the Vietnam War.
His wife, Denise, says he was one casualty of this
practice. In 1998, he went to the VA hospital in
Cleveland complaining of pain and diarrhea, and
doctors removed small cancerous growths from his
stomach and esophagus.

But as his symptoms persisted over the next two years,
his wife says the VA gave him painful tests and
repeatedly lost the results. His wife says Soles was
seen by a parade of constantly rotating resident
doctors, and there was little consistency in his care.

Once, Soles was prepped for surgery but before the
operation the doctors who were present couldn't agree
on what they were going to do, she said.

Before he got sick, the 6-foot Soles weighed more than
200 pounds. By the time his family finally decided to
take him to a private hospital, he weighed 80 pounds.
Some VA doctors thought his problem was psychosomatic.

When he could no longer recognize his own son, Soles
was rushed to a private hospital. There, Soles
learned he was "a total mass of cancer from his
trachea to his renal bowel. And that there was
nothing that could be done," his wife says. Terry
Soles died three days later.

The VA's Perlin said the Soles story was tragic, but
added: "However, that is not the experience of most of
the veterans who come to us for care. ... We take care
of 7 million veterans. While the majority of care is
good, in a big system, bad things happen."

Whose Fault?

Critics charge that one of the big problems facing the
VA is that too much money goes toward administration,
at the cost of nursing and patient care.

Dean Billik, the former director of the VA in
Charleston, S.C., is brought up as an example.

In 1996, he was denounced for allegedly spending about
$200,000 in taxpayer money to redecorate his office;
$1.5 million to renovate a nursing home unit that
stayed empty for two years; and tens of thousands of
dollars for a fish tank in the lobby - while there
were budget shortfalls and staff cutbacks were
contemplated.

Congress heard testimony claiming Billik was "blatant
in his mismanagement," and an inspector general's
report confirmed several of the numerous allegations
against him.

But after everything was brought to light, Billik
still got a bigger job: He was put in charge of the
third-largest hospital system in the VA, encompassing
eight cities, 295 acres of land and 83 buildings. And
his salary immediately jumped about $15,000.

Primetime obtained budget information on the central
Texas VA system for Billik's six-year tenure at the
top. It confirms that Billik cut spending $2 million
for the people in direct patient care - nurses aides
and practical nurses.

Other documents obtained by Primetime show that $129
million was spent on construction at three of six
facilities in Temple, Texas.

One source says Billik spent $1.8 million renovating a
building at
Temple for his own offices - after it had been renovated for
patient care.

Furthermore, Nancy Kelsey, who was a nurse at one of
the Temple facilities under Billik's supervision, says
the way some of the staff treated patients was
alarming. She says IVs ran out, patients were
neglected and dressings weren't changed.

Melba Bell, whose husband, Ed, served in Korea, said
the staff was often idle and it would often take hours
to get help. Other families said that if patients or
their families persisted in asking for help, some of
the staff retaliated.

At one point, Bell's infection got so bad that the
hospital used maggots to try to eat away the decay.
That's not unusual treatment, but what happened
afterward was.

"The dressing that they had on there was real poorly
done," said Bell's granddaughter, Chesney Shirmer.
"Some of the maggots got out and they were in the bed
with him, you know? He could feel them in the bed."

Ed Bell died of gangrene in the VA hospital in 2002.

One More Problem

When confronted with these details, Perlin said he
shared the outrage and promised to look into fixing
these things.

But there is one more problem. Many whistle-blowers
and critics say if you try to expose the truth, VA
managers don't want to hear it.

Charles Steinert, who worked for Billik in Charleston,
says he felt pressure to leave after he complained
about some of the building projects and how he was
being treated by supervisors.

Nurse Melissa Craven, who also worked at the
Charleston VA, says she suffered retribution for two
years after spoke out about some of her supervisors.

Perlin said it is easy for patients and their loved
ones to lodge complaints about VA care. "That's
important to us, because if there are concerns, we
want to address them," he said.

But many patients and their loved ones told ABCNEWS
that wasn't their experience - and even worse, many of
the families are afraid to speak out.

"They're afraid to say what really goes on, because
they're afraid any little benefits that they have are
going to be taken away from them," said Denise Soles.

Improvement Efforts

The day after Primetime presented its findings to the
VA's Perlin, he ordered inspections of the facilities
Primetime investigated.

They found a number of problems at the Temple, Texas,
VA, including poor hygiene, insufficient staffing and
low satisfaction among patients and their families.

The VA announced it would bring in new supervisors,
reassign some personnel, train others, and begin
recruiting additional staff.

Inspectors who went to the VA in Cleveland said it was
in good condition. However, after their visit,
Primetime received phone calls from several sources
saying that the hospital had advance warning of the
so-called surprise inspection.

And to those patients who accuse the VA of assembly-
line care - that patients go through a succession of
doctors - a public relations officer for the VA said
it tries to ensure continuity of care, but that may
not always be possible.

As for Dean Billik, he has now retired. In a phone
conversation on Wednesday, he said he disagreed
with the VA inspectors, saying their report was
"an opinion."

Billik said he relied on his staff to supervise
nursing and recommend budgets, and if he had renovated
some buildings that then were closed it was because he
didn't possess 20/20 hindsigh and made the best
decisions at the time.

Rep. Ted Strickland, a member of the House Veterans
Affairs Committee, called for the White House and
Congress to approve enough money to ensure that
veterans get the care they deserve.

It's a "situation that's crying out for change," the
Ohio Democrat said after viewing Primetime's tapes.

Veterans and their families agree they deserve better.
"They were good enough to go fight for their country,"
said Melba Bell. "They deserve to have the best
treatment that they could get."

Denise Soles says that before her husband died he
asked just one thing of her: to speak out.

She said Terry Soles told her, "If we can help one
other veteran from going through the hell ... That's
what we have to do."

sammy D. said:

Did anyone see the report on VA Hospitals last night?

No, I did not see it, but from my experience, it depends on
the locality.

For example, the VA Hospital in Houston, Texas is
TREMENDOUSLY backed up and the staff, from my experience are
very snotty. My sister, who is also a Veteran, has been
waiting for over two years to get her FIRST appointment. The
VA Hospital I now go to since I have moved is in
Martinsburg, West Virginia and is a LOT better in
COMPARISON. Part of this may have to do with Senator Byrd
being very much behind Veterans and not taking any [censored] from
the Bush Administration.

I noticed on the bulletin board out there last week that the
Bush Administration tried to take away overtime pay from
medical technology personnel at VA hospitals such as nurses.
Apparently, some congressmen prevented Bush from doing this.

In general, I think the VA hospitals are not on a par with
private sector hsopitals PROVIDING one can afford private
sector health care.

There is a LOT the VA can do to improve health care - even
at the best VA facilities.

For example, I am being followed at Johns Hopkins for
possible prostate cancer because of pre cancerous prostate
cells on biopsy. (Fortunately, I have private health
insurance) I have a high PSA and a LOW free PSA. The
numbers in the range I am in indicates probable Prostate
cancer. The VA does not even test the Free PSA. If they
did, this could either catch early prostate cancer and or
prevent not needed biopsy on patients with relative high
total PSA but also high Free PSA. This would save the VA
money. (You want the Free PSA to be high). This is an
important subject area because Vietnam Veterans are more
likely to develop prostate cancer than the general
population. I WAS in areas of Vietnam where Agent Orange
was used extensively - for TWO tours.

Regarding Cardiology care - I don't know. I do know that my
EKG indicated an out of alignment heart (sorry, I do not
remember the medical term) which could be indicative of
congestive heart failure. The VA doctor did not refere me to
further testing. My private practice doctor did refere me to
further testing - because of family history and other
symptoms - and all appears to be OK.

I use both the VA and private doctors. The VA bills my
insurance company so they are not wasting money on me and
they do not seem to be overloaded with patients - in fact,
because of my insurance, they are probably making money on
me which should allow them to see more veterans who can not
afford private care.

I sincerely hope todays veterans are treated better than
Viet Vets. President Clinton had an outreach proggram which
tried to make people aware of their VA benefits. George W.
Bush cancelled this program. This was in the VFW magazine -
hardly a left wing periodical.