5 poorly performing VA hospitals ready to graduate from high-risk list: Report

washingtonexaminer ^ | 9/18/2018 | Maria Biery

[caww]

ive VA hospitals are set to be removed from a list of 15 poorly performing facilities that are considered high-risk, according to an assessment that is set to be released this week by the Department of Veterans Affairs, according to a report Tuesday.

Removing these hospitals from the list would mark an overall improvement in the quality of care that patient's receive at the nation's 146 veteran hospitals, the Wall Street Journal reports.

VA officials have recognized that it is important to improve care at the facilities as the VA Mission Act, which President Trump signed in June, will allow veterans to receive care in the private health sector. The VA Mission Act would also allow VA Secretary Robert Wilkie to refer veterans to other care centers if VA hospitals fall short on quality standards.

The five VA hospitals that showed improvement were part of a program which transferred personnel from centers that performed better on the VA quality care rating system to high-risk centers that performed poorly. The program, additionally, funneled resources into these low-rank centers.

[tired&retired]

The biggest problem with VA management is that management is horizontal rather than vertical.

If you are in charge of a department, the people under you are not answering to you and you have no authority over them.

All psychologists answer to the chief of psychology.

All Social workers answer to the chief of social work.

All nurses answer to the chief of nursing.

Even the MD’s do not answer to the person whose department they work...

Department heads have responsibility, but no authority. And they wonder why it is such a cluster f&*#@

[tired&retired]

In addition, there is no incentive to work hard and see patients. People learn to milk the system...

Let’s see, if I supervise Medical School Residents I get credit for their patient appointments.

[Parley Baer]

President Trump is slowly moving things in the right direction at the VA. President Trump you magnificent bastard.

[oldtech]

What are the names/locations of the 15 facilities that fall into this category? Shouldn’t the public know?

[Boomer]

My local VA just keeps getting worse and worse. I don’t trust them at all anymore.

They are only good for dispensing meds as far as I’m concerned.

[clamper1797]

Same here in Lake Havasu City AZ … only use them for scripts

[dragnet2]

Are the names locations of these facilities a secret?

[Diana in Wisconsin]

...then, on the other hand, I can’t say ENOUGH about how well I’m treated at my VA Hospital!

https://www.madison.va.gov/

I will give credit where it is due and, ‘The People’s Republik of Madistan’ does medical care very well.

Wonder why they don’t use it as nation-wide example/standard?

[oh8eleven]

My local VA just keeps getting worse and worse.
My VA (Rochester, NY) is just the opposite, although I've only used them a few times for my tinnitus problem.
Nevertheless, the VA has a good reputation here and both my father and FIL had no complaints.

[DoodleDawg]

What are the names/locations of the 15 facilities that fall into this category? Shouldn’t the public know?

It was in the Wall Street Journal article. Dublin, Ga.; Harlingen, Texas; Nashville, Tenn.; Roseburg, Ore., and Denver, Colo. are the ones improving. Hampton, Va., Washington, D.C.; Big Spring, Texas; El Paso, Texas; Jackson, Miss; Loma Linda, Calif.; Memphis, Tenn.; Murfreesboro, Tenn.; Phoenix; and Walla Walla, Wash. remain high risk.

[rockinqsranch]

I know personally Loma Linda is fantastic. Many Vets come to Loma Linda, because the service is outstanding compared to the facilities they drive long distance to Loma Linda to avoid. They tell me, and my wife all about it.

Knowing this tells me somebody at WSJ is full of crap.

I’ve been going to Loma Linda since 2001. I have no problems whatsoever to report with that facility.

[DoodleDawg]

Knowing this tells me somebody at WSJ is full of crap.

The Wall Street Journal did not put the hospitals on a low-performance list, the VA did. All the Journal did was report on what the VA says: Some Low-Performing VA Hospitals Show Improvement

[caww]

I don’t think so...google would probably reveal that

[caww]

I don’t think so...google would probably reveal that

[dragnet2]

I see, so ya put up an article about 5 poorly preforming VA hospitals, then the reader is told to look them up on google?

lol. Sounds like the article was written by CA bureaucrat stooges.

[rockinqsranch]

I know BS when I read it. I’m NOT paying WSJ to read BS no matter their source.

I know personally, and as do many Vets that Loma Linda is an outstanding VA hospital. Over the years we’ve been going to Loma Linda, Jerry L. Pettis Memorial VA we’ve talked to many other veterans. They come from all over to Loma Linda because of the great service, and facilities. They come from Nevada, Arizona, and met a guy who came to the facility from New Mexico once ‘cause he’d heard others praise the facility.

So, OK IF the Loma Linda I know is considered so damned bad, and they want to improve on what actually is the best I pray they don’t apply the usual Government “better” to this fine hospital.

[Wuli]

Wahsington Examiner is often inferior journalism and seldom groundbreaking journalism.

The article is a rehash of an article in the Wall Street Journal.

The W_Examiner fails miserably when, unlike the WSJ, it does not give its readers the benefit of identifying where are the five VA hospitals that have improved. Something I imagine most readers of the article are interested in.

For me the fact that the W_Examiber gave the link to the WSJ article and I could go fishing there was still not representative of quality jounralism.

[caww]

I beg to differ with you as Paul Bedard often has excellent articles in the Washington Examiner. I'm far more interested in the trustworthiness 'of the authors' who write than what might be considered an otherwise popular site to some. As to any actual journalism today, let alone investigative journalism, one is surely hard pressed to find even in the Wall Street Journal. However, since I don't care to fork over $$$ to Wall Street J. I am certainly grateful for the news sites reporting otherwise.

Additionally....it is not uncommon one needs to look further for ‘details’ about an article written of which they have interest in further details...Freepers often come together with their ‘findings’ when there's sufficient interest.

I might suggest you go to the VA site itself to discover all 15 which were listed initially. I am delighted to see our Presidents efforts to take care of the facilities for our vets is getting results. Which is the point of placing this thread......... Happy fishing ;)

[Wuli]

Sorry. The editorial slant of the Washington Examiner is no excuse for what I consider sloppy journalism by any source.

At least the WSJ article named the five locations where the VA had improved, which was to me minimum detail needed in article titled: “5 poorly performing VA hospitals ready to graduate from high-risk list”.

The VERY FIRST journalistic question is - where are they??