Gimpy
07-17-2003, 09:14 AM
Even the American Legion is now understanding the horse$hit that GEE-W put out during his campaign is just that --- HORSE-PATOOTY! Things are getting WORSE at VA health care facillities instead of better!
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Veterans Leader Deplores Long Wait For Health Care
By GIL KLEIN Media General News Service
Published: Jul 17, 2003
WASHINGTON - The head of the nation's largest veterans group warned a Senate committee Tuesday that the Veterans Affairs health care system is ``being consumed by fiscal neglect.''
After touring more than 60 veterans hospitals in all 50 states, Ronald F. Conley, national commander of the 2.7-million-member American Legion, said he found ``staff shortages everywhere'' leading to long waits for care.
``Demand has soared and funding has failed miserably to keep up,'' Conley told the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. ``Staff shortages close beds, wards, emergency rooms, nursing homes and intensive-care units. ... Tens of thousands of veterans are waiting in line to see doctors.''
At the Veterans Affairs Medical Center at Bay Pines in Pinellas County, 14,000 veterans were waiting six months or longer for primary care appointments - and that was after improvements were made.
``Every ward I visited at Bay Pines suffered from nursing shortages,'' Conley said. ``Some wards reported only two registered nurses for 32 patients.''
At the Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center in Richmond, Va., ``it's not uncommon for a veteran to sit in the waiting room six hours for an eye appointment,'' he said.
Some VA facilities are suffering from the departure of health care professional serving in reserve units sent to Iraq. Others are having trouble competing with the private sector to hire workers.
He described a VA hospital in Cheyenne, Wyo., where doctors ``are forced to perform the kind of triage one might expect on a battlefield, but not in a VA hospital.
The problem, he said, is that in 1996 Congress extended VA health care, which had served primarily victims of war wounds and indigent veterans, to all veterans. Given the quality of care, he said, the number of patients more than doubled.
The VA is limiting care for veterans who have other health insurance and is aggressively seeking reimbursement from other insurance plans.
Legion Wants Funding Guarantee
Conley recommended that instead of competing each year for congressional appropriations, the VA's budget should be set at a certain amount per veteran, adjusted for inflation, much the way the government now pays for Medicare.
``Anything less than mandatory funding is a guarantee that congressional committees and VA officials will continue visiting and revisiting this issue ,'' he said.
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Veterans Leader Deplores Long Wait For Health Care
By GIL KLEIN Media General News Service
Published: Jul 17, 2003
WASHINGTON - The head of the nation's largest veterans group warned a Senate committee Tuesday that the Veterans Affairs health care system is ``being consumed by fiscal neglect.''
After touring more than 60 veterans hospitals in all 50 states, Ronald F. Conley, national commander of the 2.7-million-member American Legion, said he found ``staff shortages everywhere'' leading to long waits for care.
``Demand has soared and funding has failed miserably to keep up,'' Conley told the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. ``Staff shortages close beds, wards, emergency rooms, nursing homes and intensive-care units. ... Tens of thousands of veterans are waiting in line to see doctors.''
At the Veterans Affairs Medical Center at Bay Pines in Pinellas County, 14,000 veterans were waiting six months or longer for primary care appointments - and that was after improvements were made.
``Every ward I visited at Bay Pines suffered from nursing shortages,'' Conley said. ``Some wards reported only two registered nurses for 32 patients.''
At the Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center in Richmond, Va., ``it's not uncommon for a veteran to sit in the waiting room six hours for an eye appointment,'' he said.
Some VA facilities are suffering from the departure of health care professional serving in reserve units sent to Iraq. Others are having trouble competing with the private sector to hire workers.
He described a VA hospital in Cheyenne, Wyo., where doctors ``are forced to perform the kind of triage one might expect on a battlefield, but not in a VA hospital.
The problem, he said, is that in 1996 Congress extended VA health care, which had served primarily victims of war wounds and indigent veterans, to all veterans. Given the quality of care, he said, the number of patients more than doubled.
The VA is limiting care for veterans who have other health insurance and is aggressively seeking reimbursement from other insurance plans.
Legion Wants Funding Guarantee
Conley recommended that instead of competing each year for congressional appropriations, the VA's budget should be set at a certain amount per veteran, adjusted for inflation, much the way the government now pays for Medicare.
``Anything less than mandatory funding is a guarantee that congressional committees and VA officials will continue visiting and revisiting this issue ,'' he said.
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