A veteran called the VA suicide crisis line, was promptly and repeatedly put on hold

[KamaAina]

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/04/14/1377708/-A-veteran-called-the-VA-suicide-crisis-line-was-promptly-and-repeatedly-put-on-hold

Ted Koran's wife died six months ago from cancer. Feeling overwhelmed and contemplating suicide, he decided to call the Department of Veterans Affairs for help:

He reached out to the VA and the Veterans Suicide Hotline for help, but said he couldn't get any until after he was repeatedly put on hold for up to 10 minutes at time....

“They had me on the [verge] of saying to hell with it,” he said.

He changed his mind after thinking about the 60 animals in his care, something his wife was very passionate about before she died. He's speaking out now hoping that things will change at the VA before someone else decides to say "to hell with it."

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. We keep hearing the culture has changed at the VA. Well, has it?

I don't think so.

What does it take to make things better?

This is infuriating.

[jmowreader]

7. Enough money, for one thing

The VA has always been woefully underfunded. They've doubled the funding since 2003, but that brings them up to about enough to take care of the veterans they had BEFORE our Republican overlords decided losing two wars was just the thing the country needed.

If we take the current level of funding and triple it, we will be about where we need to be.

[GeorgeGist]

2. A country that can't afford Veterans ...

shouldn't be allowed to create them.

[My Good Babushka]

3. Maybe he'll get angry and not want that to happen to anyone else

Maybe he will start volunteering and pick up that phone when others call.

[HereSince1628]

5. I'm not sure the VA suicide number is staffed by vets who use the VA

I know there's a prohibition on VA patients being involved in volunteer positions that would involve such a vet volunteer interacting VA patient records.

Maybe someone here knows how that might or might not work.

[My Good Babushka]

6. I didn't mean he would work at the VA

Just meant it might inspire him to reach out to others in some way. Sometimes taking care of others helps us heal ourselves. I hope he gets well soon.

[DeSwiss]

4. You can't fix a rotten system.

- He is of no use to this cancerous system anymore. Wake up.

K&R

[B Calm]

8. So do you think we should go with the Koch brothers and privatize

the VA?

[KamaAina]

9. Not just no

but ^H^E^L^L ^N^O!!!

Like the Big Dog said about welfare, "Mend it, don't end it."

[B Calm]

10. I saw on MSNBC yesterday that VA Healthcare is better than

non VA healthcare. I think it was on Ed Shultz show. They did an interview with the VA director. The VA is under attack by Koch to privatize it. So any little negative thing about the VA will be in the news.