FL - Senator requests Bay Pines inquiry (VA Hospital)

[DoYouEverWonder]

February 8, 2006

ST. PETERSBURG - Sen. Bill Nelson is asking for an inquiry into the beleaguered Bay Pines VA Medical Center amid an anonymous complaint that conditions have not improved and, in some cases, may have worsened.

In a letter Monday to VA Secretary Jim Nicholson, Nelson noted that only a year ago Bay Pines was the target of multiple federal inquiries into mismanagement and poor patient care.

This week, committees in the U.S. House and Senate are expected to delve into fresh allegations of continuing problems.

In an interview Tuesday night, Nelson spokesman Dan McLaughlin said the letter to Nicholson was prompted by an anonymous complaint charging deteriorating conditions at the hospital.

http://www.sptimes.com/2006/02/08/Southpinellas/Senator_requests_Bay_.shtml

This is how BushCo and the rest of us support our troops. Yeah, right.

[Warpy]

1. VA hospitals were pits 20 years ago when I worked in one

because the system, the last resort for vets who didn't have anywhere else to go, has been chronically underfunded by both parties. The buildings are outdated and in poor repair and were built before things like oxygen, compressed air, and suction were delivered to every bedside, a real problem when a patient in one of them starts to crash. The equipment is often antique and understaffing is a way of life.

Adding to the problem is the silly way the VA pays for long term care: it will pay for six months, up front, and that's it. A nursing home knows they should accept only those vets literally at death's door because they won't make any money on a vet who lives longer than six months and has to go on Medicaid. The VA hospitals are full to the brim with WWII vets who realy should be in nursing homes, not acute care facilities, and there is little room for Iraq vets who should be there and close to their families. The VA system underbuilt nursing home facilities to the point that only those vets with sufficient political pull can get into them.

On the up side, the rehab facilities at VA hospitals are top notch, even if they're in such dilapidated surroundings. Most folks who get admitted to a VA as acute patients do get better. The staff are nothing short of heroic, managing to offer great care in piss poor surroundings with piss poor equipment. However, the type of understaffing one sees at a VA contributes to a high rate of medical errors, and a few get hurt by the system. It all goes back to underfunding.

Any fool who buys into the "GOP is the party that supports the military" garbage needs to volunteer in a VA hospital for a week.

[DoYouEverWonder]

2. One of the experiences

that I had when I was kid, that had a major impact on my anit-war stance, was doing volunteer work in a hospital on Roosevelt Island that was for the terminally ill. Most of the patients were WW 1 & WW 2 vets, who were either paraplegia or quadriplegia. The only way to get into this hospital was if you were never coming out. Everyone who supports war should have to do a few days in a place like that.

[LostinVA]

4. "Johnny Got His Gun"

[DoYouEverWonder]

5. I had a great English Lit teacher in HS

who assigned that book to us. Another eye opener.

[LostinVA]

8. Great movie, too -- so very sad and unsettling...

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

3. They're deliberately breaking ALL the VA hospitals

When I started using the Dallas TX facility five years ago it was an outstanding place (I had a knee replacement done by them). The pharmacy had an average waiting time of 45 minutes. In fact, there was a sign on the wall that said if your prescriptions weren't ready in one hour you should get in line and ask about it! Now after a series of changes the average wait time is 85+ minutes (according to a crawl sign above the door). The actual wait time is up to four hours and more.

That's just an example of a whole lot of mucking about with a system that once worked.

[noonwitch]

6. My dad was there a couple of weeks ago

My dad is a vet, served in Korea on border patrol right after the war ended. He goes to that VA hospital for his routine exams and such. He likes the service he gets there. I was just talking to him about on Saturday.

Maybe dad has one of the good doctors there.

[coeur_de_lion]

7. It is very sad what is happening to the VA system

My mother just passed away in a VA nursing home. Hers was a little north of Bay Pines, and when it was her time to go in 3 years ago we had a choice between Bay Pines and the other place. I had been hearing bad things about Bay Pines for years, in fact my grandfather died there. The choice was easy.

I watched as our wonderful governor privatized the CNA staff at Mom's NH. The CNA staff were forced to re-apply for their own jobs, and a lot of them left because they were losing their pensions and other benefits. Enough dedicated staff were left, so Mom didn't suffer too much from the privatization. No thanks to Jeb Bush.

Thanks to a wonderful caring staff my mother's last years were spent in relative comfort and ease of mind. But Bay Pines is notorious for mistreating the veterans under their care. I hope Senator Nelson finally does something to help those folks. It is a national disgrace that we treat our veterans like cattle awaiting slaughter.