For most veteran’s medical needs, do we really need veteran’s hospitals? Couldn’t the government save money by just paying a regular hospital to do the work?
Of course, we need a few veteran’s hospitals open for dealing with combat-related problems where regular hospitals might not have the specialists.
DING DING DING !!! WE HAVE A WINNER !!!
I volunteered for 5 years in our local rural EMS unit, tryng to pay back on my part. We would on occasion transport a vet to the nearest VA hospital which is 30 minutes away. They weren't usually "emergency" transports but they were justified as they usually were WW2 vets, up in age with chronic health problems, bless 'em all.
We would arrive at the VA hosp. and the emergency room would still be dark and cold, this after radioing in advance that we were coming with a patient. Sometimes it took the "doc on duty" 30 minutes to open up, turn on the lights and heat, can you imagine what a morale buster that is?
After about the forth transport ending the same way, we started transporting our vets to the local hospital. They would ask us why them instead of the VA and when we explained they encouraged us to just bring them there and they'd worry about the paperwork and logistics later in the day when the VA staff woke up! It was great.
The regular hosp. staff was so refreshing, no "territorial" attitudes, they just wanted the old gents (the vets) to be comfortable and get them on the road back to health.
No! Not even close. Perhaps you should spend some time visiting some VA Medical centers and hospitals and talk with the people involved on both sides before making any more ill informed comments like yours.
Sorry, but veterans have already paid a steep price for the care they (myself included) receive resulting from service and or combat connected disabilities. I'll take my VA care far more seriously getting it from the Houston VA hospital system than I would want from privately owned physicians and hospitals.
In IMHO the bloated welfare and SSI boondoggle we have in this country is so fat and ripe with fraud and waste that that should be looked at first before ever looking the veterans way. Get the damned illegal aliens off of our welfare system and SSI and out of our educational system FIRST!
YES!