Posted on 04/24/2014 6:28:06 PM PDT by Kaslin
Prepare to be enraged by this exclusive investigative report from CNN. As Allahpundit notes, the media has been documenting the VA's egregiously poor treatment of our veterans for some time, blowing the whistle on horrific conditions and scandalously long wait times for care. But the new revelations introduce an additional, more sinister, element into the equation: Lethal, ass-covering corruption. An absolute disgrace:
At least 40 U.S. veterans died waiting for appointments at the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Health Care system, many of whom were placed on a secret waiting list. The secret list was part of an elaborate scheme designed by Veterans Affairs managers in Phoenix who were trying to hide that 1,400 to 1,600 sick veterans were forced to wait months to see a doctor, according to a recently retired top VA doctor and several high-level sources ... Internal e-mails obtained by CNN show that top management at the VA hospital in Arizona knew about the practice and even defended it. Dr. Sam Foote just retired after spending 24 years with the VA system in Phoenix. The veteran doctor told CNN in an exclusive interview that the Phoenix VA works off two lists for patient appointments: There's an "official" list that's shared with officials in Washington and shows the VA has been providing timely appointments, which Foote calls a sham list. And then there's the real list that's hidden from outsiders, where wait times can last more than a year.
So this branch of the VA operated an off-the-books list in order to mask atrocious realities and deflect public scrutiny. (Was the Phoenix division the only one that used this ploy?) It gets worse:
According to Foote, the elaborate scheme in Phoenix involved shredding evidence to hide the long list of veterans waiting for appointments and care. Officials at the VA, Foote says, instructed their staff to not actually make doctor's appointments for veterans within the computer system. Instead, Foote says, when a veteran comes in seeking an appointment, "they enter information into the computer and do a screen capture hard copy printout. They then do not save what was put into the computer so there's no record that you were ever here," he said. According to Foote, the information was gathered on the secret electronic list and then the information that would show when veterans first began waiting for an appointment was actually destroyed...Foote adds that when veterans waiting on the secret list die, they are simply removed...Foote said that the number of dead veterans who died waiting for care is at least 40.
They went to great lengths to avoid keeping accurate records, and when veterans died of neglect, their secret files simply disappeared. Their paper trail was destroyed. The CNN story profiles one victim of this scheme -- and as a fair warning, some these quotes are excruciating to read:
This makes me furious. The VA has been famous, or should I say infamous, for keeping vets for long, long periods of time even after they are treated. NOW, they’re not treating many of them at all.
God help all vets.
the VA does not, (like the military does), consider its front line clinical workers as the key to the Mission. The military has supportive services, but all relate to the front line who have target on the enemy and are the key enforcers, ultimate enforcers, of the Mission.
while the military has its own issues with beauracracy it is nothing like the VA which is govt run through and through and easily can be adrift from its Mission: to provide access to quality care for our veterans. Thus you have a bulging top heavy upper management that is far removed from the Mission’s implementation and is an oligarchy unto itself within the govt.
Gov’t healthcare.
hey obama, is this Bush’s fault? you gd, mf, lyin pos
Most veterans get good care, as best as is possible considering the inanities of upper management, from caring and professional front line workers. But when you don’t operate with Mission in mind and listen to the front line as to what resources should be and what needs changing in the structure...this is what you get.
Then have someone bring charges up to the State Medical Board for violation of Hippocratic oath.
Then have a relative file criminal charges of medical neglect, and bring civil charges and lawsuit .
Been saying for years, Obamacare will make the VA health care system look like the Mayo Clinic.
THis typical, hidden story does not change that.
It’s been going on there for decades. It’s out now to make things look wrse than BO care.
what’s the difference between them? Nothing. Government health care.
Duh.
Oh... the VA has doctors.
Michelle has her grubby paws into the VA now. She’s all over talking about getting Vets jobs.
Whatever she’s up to, this came up pretty coincidentally. oh, along with a letter stating that id you have VA health care, you don’y have to fill out the yearly paper work, the IRS will check your income and report it to the VA and prove your eligibility.
Privacy? who cares when there’s stuff?
Communism anyone?
In fairness I want to put in a good word about the VA Health Center (hospital) in La Jolla (San Diego). I have been going there for treatment for 4 months and have been given timely appointments most of the time. In addition they are to be commended for their usual courtesy. There is room for improvement there too, especially in efficiency, but it’s apparent that not all VA hospitals are the same.
La Jolla is a rich area. Very rich. The VA hospitals in other cities are much, much worse.
I'm sure that's true. I was just pointing out an exception. Rhe one I went to previously in Hampton VA was worse. I lost part of a foot because of delayed treatment.
So glad that the brave Dr. Sam Foote waited until after he had “just retired” to blow the whistle.
WTF! BTTT!
Care does vary from hospital to hospital and clinic to clinic. I have used Fayetteville, AR and Tulsa and Muskogee, OK have have received very good service.
The hospital in Milwaukee has been wonderful for my husband for years. He gets terrific care and the staff are very nice and appear to care.
You are exactly right. Being a fedgov entity the VA has 3-4 administrative staff for every medical provider in the clinics. There is no other healthcare entity in the USA that is that top heavy with REMFs.
Who gets the annual bonuses? The admin staff, of course.
The providers are tasked with finding a way to get care for the vets in spite of all of the administrative obstacles. You have to be persistent and practice the USMC philosophy (or at least it used to be) of over, under, around, or through.
The VA will be the best med system in the country before long. Not by improvement, by default.
Obamacare is like a bomb.
This is just an effort to denigrate it (the VA), in my opinion.
The VA is good. When you get in with a group who cares.
Drag them into the streets and set them on fire. Then burn their homes to the ground. Put it all on YouTube.
I go to the VA. It’s a great place to get meds. But don’t get real sick.
The only issue we have is that it is about 40 minutes away. However, anytime he has had to go to the local hospital, the VA covers it, as long as it is necessary, so we are happy right now. The ER is good at the VA hospital, although we also know the worse times to go.
Anyway, it depends a lot on the personnel and it is really good here. They work with Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin, so the doctors are pretty wonderful. I am not sure if they still do, but years ago, there were rotations between the facilities.
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