Related: Bonus VA Coverage
Only took a week for me to schedule you for an appointment:
"VA bonus system draws sharp rebuke; 80 percent of senior officials got additional pay" by Matthew Daly | Associated Press June 21, 2014
WASHINGTON — Nearly 80 percent of senior executives at the Department of Veterans Affairs got performance bonuses last year despite widespread treatment delays and preventable deaths at VA hospitals and clinics, a top official said Friday.
The whole operation has been taken over by greedy money addicts, folks. They have infected every single institution in AmeriKa.
More than 350 VA executives were paid a total of $2.7 million in bonuses last year, said Gina Farrisee, assistant VA secretary for human resources and administration. That amount is down from about $3.4 million in bonuses paid in 2012, Farrisee said.
At a time when these problems have been known about for years if not decades.
Farrisee defended the bonus system, telling the House Veterans Affairs Committee that the VA needs to pay bonuses to keep executives, who are paid up to $181,000 per year.
You guys are as bad as the corporations and banks to trot out that pathetic and lame-a$$ excu$e.
‘‘We are competing in tough labor markets for skilled personnel,’’ Farrisee said. ‘‘To remain competitive in recruiting and retaining the best personnel to serve our veterans, we must rely on tools such as incentives and awards that recognize superior performance.’’
Do these $cum ever hear themselves? Or does the disconnect reach as far as reading whatever script is in front of you?
Farrisee’s testimony drew sharp rebukes by lawmakers from both parties.
Representative Jeff Miller, a Florida Republican who chairs of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said the VA’s bonus system ‘‘is failing veterans.’’
Instead of being given for outstanding work, the cash awards are ‘‘seen as an entitlement and have become irrelevant to quality work product,’’ Miller said.
Representative Phil Roe, a Tennessee Republican, said awarding bonuses to 80 percent of executives means that the VA was setting the bar for performance so low that ‘‘anybody could step over it. If your metrics are low enough that almost everybody exceeds them, then your metrics are not very high.’’
Representative Ann McLane Kuster, a New Hampshire Democrat, said the VA suffered from ‘‘grade inflation, or what [humorist] Garrison Keillor would refer to as ‘all of the children are above average.’ ”
Kuster and others said they found it hard to believe that 80 percent of senior employees could be viewed as exceeding expectations, given the uproar about patients dying while awaiting VA treatment and evidence that workers falsified or omitted appointment schedules to mask frequent, long delays. The resulting election-year firestorm forced VA Secretary Eric Shinseki to resign.
I suppose the point of featuring a problem that has festered for decades is to get a Republican Senate that will hold Obama to a harder Zionist line. That's the only reason I can think of for the agenda-pushing pre$$ to pounce on this because both parties are to blame.
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"Review confirms wide VA problems" Associated Press June 28, 2014
WASHINGTON — A review ordered by President Obama of the troubled Veterans Affairs health care system concluded that medical care for veterans is beset by ‘‘significant and chronic system failures,’’ substantially verifying problems raised by whistleblowers and internal and congressional investigators.
A summary of the review by deputy White House chief of staff Rob Nabors says the Veterans Health Administration must be restructured and that a ‘‘corrosive culture’’ has hurt morale and affected the timeliness of health care. The review also found that a 14-day standard for scheduling veterans’ medical appointments is unrealistic and has been susceptible to manipulation.
The White House released a summary of the review following President Obama’s meeting Friday with Nabors and Acting VA Secretary Sloan Gibson.
The review came in the wake of reports of lengthy wait times for appointments and for treatment in VA facilities nationwide.
The review offers a series of recommendations, including a need for more doctors, nurses, and trained administrative staff.
Those recommendations are likely to face skepticism among some congressional Republicans who have blamed the VA’s problems on mismanagement, not lack of resources.
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"VA audit finds many more wait for care" Associated Press June 20, 2014
WASHINGTON — Tens of thousands more veterans than previously reported are forced to wait at least a month for medical appointments at Veterans Affairs hospitals and clinics, according to an updated audit of 731 VA medical facilities released Thursday.
We are still in the waiting room reading this as the scandal gets worse and worse and worse.
The updated report includes new figures showing that the wait times actually experienced at most VA facilities were shorter than those on waiting lists for pending appointments. For instance, new patients at the Atlanta VA hospital waited about an average of 44 days for an appointment in April, the new report said. But the average wait for pending appointments at Atlanta was 66 days.
Similar disparities in average wait times were found around the country. Pending appointments, for example, don’t include patients who walk into a clinic and get immediate or quick treatment, VA officials said. They also don’t reflect rescheduled appointments or those that are moved up because of openings due to cancellations.
Both sets of data are evidence many veterans face long waits for care. More than 56,000 were waiting more than 90 days for an initial appointment, the report said.
It takes that long to forge up appointment schedules.
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Related: Providence VA explains high mortality rate
At least Massachusetts is a model when it comes to veterans care!
"2 patients languished at a Brockton VA facility; Psychiatric needs neglected; agency whistle-blowers’ complaints point to wider pattern of substandard care" by Bryan Bender | Globe Staff June 24, 2014
WASHINGTON — The findings by the federal Office of Special Counsel, an independent agency that investigates and prosecutes wrongdoing in the civil service, were contained in a nationwide review of 10 cases in which Department of Veterans Affairs employees came forward as whistle-blowers with complaints about substandard care and practices.
The new findings indicate that sizable numbers of patients may be receiving substandard medical care and that the VA has failed to correct problems despite being made aware of them. The latest revelations go beyond the recent reports of problems in the VA health care system, which have largely centered on long delays for veterans seeking appointments for outpatient specialty care, particularly at a Phoenix, Ariz., veterans hospital.
The Office of Special Counsel says it is investigating more than 50 whistle-blower disclosures at the VA nationwide. It is reviewing even more cases — approximately 60 — of allegations that those who came forward with concerns about scheduling, understaffing, and patient care faced retaliation by their superiors.
This is a $y$temic $candal, folks, and it is NATIONWIDE!
In Brockton and other cases, the agency found that the VA, after conducting its own investigations that corroborated the allegations, nevertheless insisted there was no impact on patient well-being.
What kind of pre$cription pharmaceuticals are they taking?!!
“Such statements are a serious disservice to the veterans who receive inadequate care for years after being admitted to VA facilities,” Carolyn N. Lerner, the top official of Office of Special Counsel, wrote in a letter to President Obama outlining her findings on Monday.
Vincent Ng, medical director of the Boston VA Health Care System — which includes facilities in Brockton, Jamaica Plain, and West Roxbury — declined to address the specific allegations. But he said in a statement that he encourages whistle-blowers to come forward....
So the administration can prosecute them?
Acting Secretary of Veterans Affairs Sloan Gibson said in a statement that he is “deeply disappointed not only in the substantiation of allegations raised by whistle-blowers but also in the failures within VA to take whistle-blower complaints seriously.”
Your disappointment can't match mine.
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The government-run VA health care system is the largest integrated health care system in the country, treating more than six million patients each year.
Sort of sours you on the thought of single-payer in this country, doesn't it?
The Office of Special Counsel found numerous cases across the country that suggest serious medical malpractice is not unusual.
For example, the agency corroborated a case in Alabama that found old notes were copied and classified as “current readings” in the files of more than 1,200 patients, “likely resulting in inaccurate patient health information being recorded.”
In Buffalo, medical staff incorrectly labeled sterile surgical instruments; in San Juan, investigators found that “nursing staff neglected elderly residents by failing to assist with essential daily activities, such as bathing, eating, and drinking.”
In Brockton, investigators focused on two patients in the Center for Community Living....
The response from the Boston VA indicates patients also may have been overmedicated....
We are not the capital of the pharmaceutical industry for nothing!
Is it possible the vets are being experimented upon?
The Brockton whistle-blower, a staff psychiatrist, was not identified in the report. Contacted by the Globe, he declined to comment, citing ongoing litigation related to his case, including his allegation that he was retaliated against by his superiors.
Why would anyone have to worry about that in AmeriKa, land of truth and liberty?
In the Brockton cases as well as others across the country, investigators found it commonplace for the VA to corroborate allegations by whistle-blowers but then dismiss any possibility that patients suffered....
It's called DENIAL!
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More of that here:
"Lynch reassured after meeting with Brockton VA" by Claire McNeill | Globe Correspondent June 27, 2014
BROCKTON — US Representative Stephen F. Lynch said he felt reassured Friday that patients are now being well cared for at the Brockton Veterans Affairs center, where an investigation found that two patients went years without proper psychiatric attention.
After touring the Brockton Community Living Center Friday and talking to dozens of veterans, staff, and the director of the VA Boston Healthcare System, Lynch said he was confident in the quality of the care at the facility, and he does not believe such mistreatment will happen there again.
Now, he said, “the patients here in the Community Living Center receive a very high level of care.”
I think I'm going to be sick.
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Lynch said the many committed doctors, nurses, therapists, and staff he met Friday formed a safeguard against poor care.
“The front line in our quest to provide high-quality health care to our veterans is the people in these buildings,” he said. “They’re good people. . . . There’s a patriotic dimension to the work that they’re doing.”
Lynch said he hopes that people in the Veterans Affairs system know they can approach him with any complaints.
“You would have a lot more whistle-blowers if there was reason to have them,” he said.
This is gross, hey!
Yeah, the problems are not that bad. Just ignore the intimidation and ignorance by and from the VA when they blew!
The findings by the federal Office of Special Counsel, an independent agency that investigates and prosecutes wrongdoing in the civil service, were provided in a June 23 letter to President Obama. Included were reviews of 10 cases across the country in which Department of Veterans Affairs employees complained about substandard care.
The Brockton whistle-blower was a staff psychiatrist who has not been identified. He has declined to comment, citing ongoing litigation, including his allegation that he was retaliated against by his superiors.
Ng said Friday he did not know of retaliation against the Brockton whistle-blower.
Mayor Bill Carpenter of Brockton, who toured the facility with Lynch, said he appreciated the representative’s presence.
“The fact that he came here today to tour the facility in person was reassuring,” he said.
Photo op reassured everybody, good!
Carpenter said that he and Lynch were given “unfettered access” to staff and patients, leaving him with the impression that patients are receiving good care.
That's the impression of the imagery and illusion, 'eh?
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You hear something, readers?
"VA challenged on handling of whistleblower charges" by Kevin Freking | Associated Press June 24, 2014
WASHINGTON — A top federal investigator has identified ‘‘a troubling pattern of deficient patient care’’ at Veterans Affairs facilities around the country that she says was pointed out by whistle-blowers but downplayed by the department.
Put a call into Lynch's office then!
The problems went far beyond the extraordinarily long wait time for some appointments — and the attempts to cover them up — that has put the department under intense scrutiny.
Hey, wait a minute.
The U.S., government never covers things up! I know because they told me so themselves!
In a letter Monday to President Obama, Carolyn Lerner of the US Office of Special Counsel cited canceled appointments with no follow-up, drinking water contaminated with the bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ disease, and improper handling of surgical equipment and supplies....
Related: VA Literally Sticks It Up Vets Asses
Don't get your dental work done their, either.
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At least female soldiers are being looked after:
"VA falls short on medical care of servicewomen; Problems abound with lack of staff, delays of key tests" by Garance Burke | Associated Press June 23, 2014
SAN FRANCISCO — Already pilloried for long wait times for medical appointments, the beleaguered Department of Veterans Affairs has fallen short of another commitment: attending to the needs of the rising ranks of female veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, many of them of child-bearing age.
Yup, the poor, start-wars-based-on-lies government.
And you wonder why I'm sick of this sh**?
Even the head of the VA’s office of women’s health acknowledges that persistent shortcomings remain in caring for the 390,000 female veterans seen last year at its hospitals and clinics — despite an investment of more than $1.3 billion since 2008, including the training of hundreds of medical professionals in the fundamentals of treating the female body.
According to an Associated Press review of VA internal documents, inspector general reports, and interviews:
■ Nationwide, nearly one in four VA hospitals does not have a full-time gynecologist on staff....
■ When community-based clinics refer veterans to a nearby university or other private medical facility to be screened for breast cancer, more than half the time mammogram results are not provided to patients within two weeks, as required under VA policy.
See: The Boston Globe is My Heart and Lungs
■ Female veterans have been placed on the VA’s Electronic Wait List at a higher rate than male veterans....
■ And according to a VA presentation last year, female veterans of child-bearing age were far more likely to be given medications that can cause birth defects than were women being treated through a private HMO.
Cover story for the birth defects related to depleted uranium?
‘‘Are there problems? Yes,’’ said Dr. Patricia Hayes, the VA’s chief consultant for women’s health, in an interview. ‘‘The good news for our health care system is that as the number of women increases dramatically, we are going to continue to be able to adjust to these circumstances quickly.’’
Someone should send her to the psychiatrist's office!
The 5.3 million male veterans who used the VA system in fiscal year 2013 far outnumbered female patients, but the number of women receiving care at VA has more than doubled since 2000.
And truthfully, despite the misguided values of the extreme feminists, that is a sign that the U.S. is losing the wars. The more life-giving women we throw into life-taking wars signals failure. Only losing sides do that.
The tens of thousands of predominantly young, female veterans returning home has dramatically changed the VA’s patient load, and the system has yet to fully catch up. Also, as the total veteran population continues to decrease, the female veteran population has been increasing year after year, according to a 2013 VA report.
All enrolled veterans can use what the VA describes as its ‘‘comprehensive medical benefits package,’’ though certain benefits may vary by individual and ailment, just like for medical care outside the VA system. The VA typically covers all female-specific medical needs, aside from abortions and in-vitro fertilization.
The strategic initiatives, which sprang from recommendations issued six years ago to enhance women’s health system-wide, have kick-started research about female veterans’ experience of sexual harassment, assault, or rape in a military setting; established working groups about how to build prosthetics for female soldiers; and led to installation of women’s restrooms at the more than 1,000 VA facilities.
That rape crisis sure faded away real quick.
Yet enduring problems with the delivery of care for women veterans are surfacing now amid the growing criticism of the VA’s handling of patient care nationwide and allegations of misconduct, lengthy wait times, and, potentially, unnecessary deaths.
And they will be submerged again soon.
Used to treating the men who served in Vietnam, Korea, or World War II, many of the VA’s practitioners until a few years ago were unaccustomed to giving advice about birth control or treating menopause.
The study on distribution of prescription medication that could cause birth defects is illustrative of the lagging awareness; one of every two women veterans has received medication from a VA pharmacy that could cause birth defects, compared to one in every six women who received care through a private health care system, said the study’s author, Eleanor Bimla Schwarz, a senior medical expert on reproductive health with VA.
Schwarz, who also directs women’s health research at the University of Pittsburgh, said many new female veterans are of child-bearing age, a higher percentage are on medication than in the general population, and the majority of these women are not on contraception.
Hayes said the VA seeks to place a designated women’s provider in every facility and expects to install a ‘‘one-stop’’ health care model that allows women to go to one provider for a range of services, including annual physicals, mental health services, gynecological care, and mammograms.
So Obummercare already had a roll out before the October failure?
Until that happens, however, some VA clinics have limited gender-specific treatments.
Many female veterans report having to drive hours to get care, while some of them tell of struggling to get the VA to pick up the tab for a private doctor.
Army Sergeant LaQuisha Gallmon of Greenville, S.C., whose daughter was born two months ago, said she had been authorized to see a private physician for prenatal visits and delivery. But because the paperwork hadn’t been fully processed when she went to an outside emergency room for complications in pregnancy, VA has refused to pay the $700 bill, she said.
It IS OBUMMERCARE!
‘‘I called the VA women’s clinic and they told me everything was approved for me to get outside care,’’ said Gallmon, 32, who served six years in Iraq, Germany, and Fort Gordon, Ga. ‘‘I wound up in the ER for complications, and a week later I received the letter saying they wouldn’t pay for it.’’
We got a letter here, too.
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Related:
"The first wave of soldiers from the Maine Army National Guard’s 133d Engineer Battalion that deployed to Afghanistan almost a year ago is back home. Family members and friends greeted the soldiers with hugs, flowers, and tears at the Augusta Armory on Friday."
Time to make that VA appointment.
The sleep doctor is ready to see me so good night all.
