'I Am Not A Number'...American Legion campaign reveals human side of crisis...

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'I Am Not A Number'...American Legion campaign reveals human side of crisis...
http://www.legion.org/publications/..._notanumber.htm

The American Legion Magazine

May, 2003
Volume 154, Issue 5

'I Am Not A Number'

American Legion campaign reveals human side of crisis

America?s veterans believe the VA health-care system is worth saving. But they are frustrated, waiting hours in line to get prescriptions or to see doctors on over-scheduled appointment days. Worse, many haven?t even gotten that far. Hundreds of thousands of veterans are waiting months, even years, for initial primary-care appointments.

They feel that in the eyes of the government they swore to protect that they are regarded as little more than numbers.

The American Legion?s nationwide ?I Am Not a Number? campaign, launched last November, was designed to change that perception for veterans, the public and those with power to improve the system.

Thousands of veterans responded to the Legion?s survey between November and February. Surveys continue to pour in. Stories of frustration span from the World War II veteran who is told he cannot see a doctor for a year to the Gulf War veteran who has been waiting months for any response to his enrollment application paperwork.

The ?I Am Not a Number? campaign is not a scientific survey. It was not undertaken to burden the problem with more statistics. It is a collection of testimonies, a body of human evidence. Still, quantitative results from the study are revealing:

Of the 3,135 surveys received at the time of this writing, veterans reported waiting an average of seven months each for primary-care appointments. Many said their names had been added to waiting lists one to two years deep.

The average wait to see a doctor after checking into a VA clinic for an appointment is 1.6 hours past the scheduled time, according to survey respondents.

Fifty-eight percent of those who returned surveys said they had an appointment rescheduled by VA. The wait for that rescheduled appointment averaged 2.6 months.

On a scale of 1 to 10, veterans who responded gave VA an average quality rating of 6.

The American Legion will continue to collect survey responses and do everything in its power to elevate the issue to those who have power to make VA health care a higher priority and get answers for veterans in need.

In the following pages, you will find a mere fraction of the thousands who are caught in the so-called VA ?backlog.? They are the faces behind the cases, human casualties in the battle for an adequately funded health-care system.

They are the ?Jim Smiths? of the 21st century. And the question remains the same as it was for Commander F.W. Galbraith in 1920: what do you propose to do about them?


Armand Dandurand
Minneota, Minn.
Age: 66
Military service: U.S. Air Force, 1957-1961
VA facility: Sioux Falls, S.D., VA Medical/Regional Office Center
Frustration: Primary-care appointment rescheduled three times

My Story: I have been waiting more than two years to see a VA primary-care doctor. My original appointment has been rescheduled three times: eight months the first time, and six months each the second and third times. I still have not seen a doctor. They canceled each of my appointments about a month before I was scheduled to see a doctor. They said they did not have enough staff to handle my appointment. I have quit trying.



Robert Faye Thomas
Arcadia, Fla.
Age: 71
Military service: U.S. Navy, 1950-1971
VA facility: Fort Myers, Fla., Clinic
Frustration: Waited two years to see a doctor and informed VA lacks funds to treat condition

My Story: I applied for VA health care in early 2000 and was finally enrolled in December 2001. I then had to wait more than a year to get my first appointment.

I finally saw a VA doctor in February and got an appointment to see a benefits officer in March. The doctor said I had severe hearing loss. The bad news was that three months before I saw the doctor, the Fort Myers VA stopped treating hearing-aid problems due to budget limitations. The only thing I came to VA for was hearing aids. I waited two years to get my first appointment and then found out the reason I came is no longer valid.

I put in 20 years of separations, hardships and sacrifices in the military. I served in Korea and Vietnam. After waiting more than a year to be enrolled, the thanks I received was to be placed in the lowest priority group and told that VA does not have the money to treat my hearing problem.



Robert C. Mueller
Clearmont, Fla.
Age: 75
Military service: U.S. Navy, 1945-1949
VA facility: Orlando, Fla., VA Healthcare Center
Frustration: Waited 14 months for primary-care appointment

My Story: I applied for enrollment at Orlando VA in March 2002 and was assigned to Priority Group 7c. I called five or six times to find out when I could see a doctor but was told they were not accepting new patients until they got more money from the government. I finally heard from them in February and got a May appointment to see a primary-care physician. A lot of people could die waiting so long to see a doctor. That?s not the way VA should operate. Fourteen months is too long to wait.



Forrest Stephen Costner
Conover, N.C.
Age: 55
Military service: U.S. Army, 1966-1969
VA facility: W.G. ?Bill? Hefner VA Medical Center, Salisbury, N.C.
Frustration: Waited two years to see VA doctor

My Story: A few years ago, I found out I had cancer, which my family doctor says may be related to my time spent in Vietnam. I tried to go through VA, which told me when I filled out my application that it would take two to three months to get an appointment with a doctor. I went back after waiting a year and was told not to worry because I was still in the system. They said I would just have to wait. It took two years. In the meantime, I had to go to a non-VA cancer specialist because I couldn?t get into VA. Luckily, at the time I had my cancer, the plant where I worked covered the hospitalization. However, now I?ve been unemployed for six months due to layoffs. The cancer is gone now, but I?ve been told by my family doctor that I have Type 2 diabetes. I will be in real trouble if something doesn?t happen with VA to fix this backlog problem. VA should have been there for me.

At the end of January, a VA doctor in Salisbury evaluated me. I drove two hours to get there. VA had set up booths in the Salisbury Civic Center. The patient exam rooms were in an unheated gym with two or three doctors and nurses shuffling people around. It was so chaotic they were getting the patient files messed up. My appointment was at 11 a.m., but I didn?t get in until 2:30 p.m. I was the seventh person to sign in but about the 50th person to be seen. It felt like they were herding us through to cut the backlog.

I?ve worked every day of my life, and I don?t expect the government to give me something for nothing. I helped them by serving in the military. Why can?t they help me now?


Ernesto A. Tafoya
Pueblo, Colo.
Age: 76
Military service: U.S. Navy, 1943-1946; U.S. Naval Reserve, 1946-1983
VA facility: Pueblo, Colo., Clinic
Frustration: Still waiting for primary-care appointment after two years

My Story: I?ve been waiting more than two and a half years to get an appointment with a VA doctor. It took more than four months just to get an ID card, and that?s only because I went in person to the VA center in Pueblo. They had to look through a stack of forms a foot high to find my application. It hadn?t been processed yet, and I had turned it in four months earlier. The lady at the desk processed it in front of me in less than 30 seconds. The center promised to notify me when a doctor became available to do a physical. After several months, the Pueblo Boulevard facility closed. I went to the new facility and asked them to notify me as soon as a doctor became available. In the meantime, they said I should call the Colorado Springs facility if I had a problem. I waited and waited but they never called me. I called the VA facility in Colorado Springs. The lady I spoke with asked if I was willing to travel to their facility or another one. I told her I?d go to any facility in the state just to get into VA. They said they?d let me know. It?s been months and still no call.

I finally gave up and contacted my senator?s office in Pueblo. I related the information to his aide. The aide said my senator would look into it and told me to be patient. I got a letter from the senator in July 2002. He told me his staff had contacted VA about my case. I haven?t heard anything since. Everyone says I have to be patient and wait.

The Department of Defense listed me as 100-percent disabled when I retired from service. Even though my health has deteriorated the past two years, I still consider myself fortunate compared to some of my buddies waiting in line at the VA hospital who are in much worse condition than I am and can?t get help. That?s depressing.

I?m not saying the government owes me anything. But when I signed up for the military, the government said they?d take care of me. They?ve been telling us that for 60 years. They haven?t followed through yet, and it doesn?t seem like they?re going to.


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Wayne D. Smith
Kalispell, Mont.
Age: 72
Military service: U.S. Army, 1951-1953
VA facility: VA Montana Health Care System
Frustration: Still waiting for primary-care appointment after two years

My Story: I applied for veterans benefits about two years ago. At that time, they gave me a 90-day supply of medication that my doctor in Chelan, Wash., had put me on and said it would be a two-year wait to see a VA doctor. I was only able to renew the medication one more time. Since the Seattle office was so busy, I transferred to the Tacoma office, which is more than 200 miles from where I lived. At the Tacoma VA, they renewed by prescription and told me I would have to wait at least two years to see a VA doctor. I was able to renew my medication one more time. I drove to Tacoma to be checked, so I could continue my medication. I was refused because they claimed I hadn?t returned a letter they sent.

That wasn?t true. Fortunately, I?d made a copy of the letter I?d returned and sent it to them. They never responded, so I called. They told me I would be put on another two-year waiting list.

In July 2002, I retired and moved to Kalispell, Mont., near my son so he could take care of me. I?m on a limited income and can?t afford more than $100 a month for medications.

I went to the VA in Kalispell last September and filled out the paperwork again. They scheduled me to see a doctor in March.

If VA doesn?t clean up the system for yesterday?s veterans and we go to war with Iraq, we?re going to have even more veterans in the same mess.



Robert B. Haley
Kissimmee, Fla.
Age: 65
Military service: U.S. Air Force, 1954-1958
VA facility: Orlando, Fla., VA Healthcare Center
Frustration: Still waiting for primary-care appointment after more than a year

My Story: I applied for VA health care almost a year and a half ago and have not received my initial appointment. I am retired and a cancer survivor who had to go back to work to maintain my health care until my VA benefits come through.

Tammy McMichael Waller
Lake Linden, Mich.
Age: 39
Military service: U.S. Air Force, 1983-1995
VA facility: Iron Mountain, Mich., VA Medical Center
Frustration: Still waiting for primary-care appointment after more than a year

My Story: I called VA because of a long list of medical problems. I?m assuming the symptoms are Gulf War Syndrome-related, but I don?t know for sure. I was basically told I would be put on a list and called. I never received a call. I called my contact number, and the man on the other end said they are understaffed and would get to me as soon as possible. It has now been more than a year and a half.



Steve Hanak Jr.
Franklin, N.C.
Age: 69
Military service: U.S. Navy, 1952-1956
VA facility: Asheville, N.C., VA Medical Center
Frustration: Still waiting for primary-care appointment after a year

My Story: I?ve been waiting more than a year to get an appointment at VA, and I was told recently it will be another six to eight months before I can see a doctor. A doctor outside VA recently told me I have asbestos in my lungs. I assume I contracted asbestosis when I served aboard ship because I haven?t had any other exposures anywhere else since that time. This condition is a life-and-death problem.


Edward Benavidez
Galveston, Texas
Age: 63
Military service: U.S. Army National Guard, 1956-1958; U.S. Marine Corps, 1958-1962 and 1965-1968; Texas National Guard, 1979-1989
VA facility: Houston VA Medical Center
Frustration: Sill waiting for primary-care appointment after a year

My Story: I broke my ankle as a paratrooper in the National Guard, and now I?m at 30-percent disability. After I had an ankle fusion, I was discharged from the military. Since then, I have developed an unrelated back problem. More than a year ago, a physician?s assistant at VA saw me for my back problem and said, ?We?re going to set you up with a primary-care physician,? but they haven?t followed up. I have called two to three times, and I?m still waiting.

John S. Schell
Harlingen, Texas
Age: 78
Military service: U.S. Army, 1942-1946
VA facility: McAllen, Texas, Clinic
Frustration: Hard to reach VA by telephone

My Story: Almost every time you call, you cannot get through. The lines are always busy. When you finally do get through, the people on the phone have no idea what you?re talking about.

Another problem is that VA only pays for generic forms of medication. That?s frustrating, because some medications
don?t come in generic.

Many of my friends are frustrated and have dropped out of the system. They?d rather forfeit movies and eating out so they can spend the extra money it takes to go to a regular doctor. It?s just not worth the effort. VA is not designed to provide service to veterans. The government gets away with it, but a company could never run this way.


Virgil Baumgartner
Worthington, Minn.
Age: 70
Military service: U.S. Army, 1952-1954
VA facility: Sioux Falls, S.D., VA Medical/Regional Office Center
Frustration: Primary-care appointment canceled and not rescheduled

My story: I tried to get an appointment for the required physical exam starting in spring 2002. I was told it would be October 2003, but since then I have been told it?s been canceled. I could get a free physical from my Medicare supplemental insurance at my hometown, so why can?t VA accept that and make me eligible for low-cost drugs that I need for my blood pressure. I have the money to pay for them now, so I?m a Category 8. But if I have to keep paying for them, soon I?ll be in a different category.


William J. Gedeon
Englewood, Colo.
Age: 59
Military service: U.S. Air Force, 1962-1966
VA facility: Eastern Colorado Health Care System, Denver
Frustration: Still waiting for primary-care appointment after two years

My story: I enrolled at Denver VA Medical Center on April 20, 2001. To date, I have not been able to receive an appointment to see a primary-care physician. I received a letter dated Jan. 3, 2002, stating that it would be ?many months? before I could get an appointment. At the end of January 2002, my employer laid me off after 23 years. I am a widower, so I cannot get reasonably priced insurance. My COBRA coverage expires in the summer, and given my job situation and my age, I may not be able to get reasonably priced insurance. To be without it is terrifying.


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Roman T. Gill
Escanaba, Mich.
Age: 74
Military Service: U.S. Army, 1951-1952
VA facility: Iron Mountain, Mich., VA Medical Center
Frustration: Still waiting to be notified about enrollment after two years

My story: I sent in a form to enroll in VA health care in summer 2001. I was notified to send in my service records and submitted the forms in spring 2002. I have not had a reply, and now it is 2003. It leaves you wondering what happened. I want to get into the system in case something comes up. It would be nice if I would get a call or note in the mail letting me know what?s going on.


Norman A. Parker
Washington, D.C.
Age: 44
Military service: U.S. Army, 1978-1981 and 1991; National Guard, 1986-2003
VA facility: Washington, D.C., VA Medical Center
Frustration: Feels VA has given him the runaround

My story: I?m a Persian Gulf veteran, and I?ve been treated for depression and high blood pressure. I have been waiting to get approval for VA care for those conditions because of PTSD. I?ve been called a liar and treated like a child by my doctor, and I?ve been shuffled around between different doctors. They?ve been asking me for the same information over and over since 1991. I?ve been whirled around in circles. It?s been a big headache, and I?m fed up with it.


Carlyle Clayton Pierce
Cottage Grove, Minn.
Age: 73
Military service: U.S. Navy, 1949-1953
VA facility: St. Paul, Minn., Vet Center
Frustration: Still waiting for primary-care appointment after 18 months

My story: I applied for VA enrollment in July 2001 and received a letter confirming enrollment in August 2001. I have not yet received an appointment. No one has returned my calls. You don?t ever know what?s going on. I think the government forgets about veterans once they come home.

Lawrence M. LaPole
Rosemount, Minn.
Age: 68
Military service: U.S. Army, 1954-1957
VA facility: Minneapolis VA Medical Center
Frustration: Still waiting for primary-care appointment after a year

My story: VA called maybe six weeks after I?d enrolled and said it would be about a year, unless I have an emergency. I knew the VA was getting a lot of notice by veterans and had quite a few guys sign up, so I wasn?t surprised I was placed on a list. But I was surprised the wait was a year. I just want to get the process over with. I?m getting to an age where who knows what can happen. I don?t want to have to wait for an emergency.

Gerald Dean Potter
Buckeye, Ariz.
Age: 61
Military service: U.S. Navy, 1958-1962, 1966-1968 and 1970-1983
VA facility: Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center, Phoenix
Frustration: VA facility appears short-staffed

My story: I had to wait three years for a pair of orthopedic shoes. I had my left foot amputated while on active duty, and when I needed a new foot for my prosthesis I had to wait four weeks for the replacement. Right now my prescriptions aren?t being renewed on time, and I have went up to two weeks without pills I need for blood pressure and arthritis pain. They just don?t seem to have people willing to help out. I wish some people in Congress had to put up with my problems.



Rudolph P. Schoepke Jr.
Apple Valley, Minn.
Age: 68
Military service: U.S. Army, 1954-1956
VA facility: St. Paul, Minn., Vet Center
Frustration: Still waiting for primary-care appointment after two years

My story: I submitted all forms required by VA in November 2000 and was told at that time it would be a year wait. My wife called in October 2001 to inquire about the status of my appointment and was told my name was not in the computer. They concluded that my file must have been lost. We were told to apply again. We filled out all the required forms again and returned them. A nurse called and said she would set up a referral ?today? for me to a see a doctor and that we would receive a letter telling us the time of the appointment. In February 2002 we called VA and were told it would be another three months. We left a message in May 2002. We were called back and told the wait could be up to another year. I have been paying for my prescriptions out of my own pocket, and because of that my wife has had to stop taking some prescriptions because we can?t afford the cost. We don?t feel we?re getting the runaround; everyone has been nice. They just say they?re way too busy. We don?t really expect to hear back from them.


Ahnighto E. Riddick
Elizabeth City, N.C.
Age: 45
Military service: U.S. Army and U.S. Army Reserve, 1979-2003
VA facility: Hampton, N.C., VA Medical Center
Frustration: After long delays, VA says it can?t help

My story: I waited six months for my first VA appointment. Once I got the appointment, I waited from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. to see a doctor about my high blood pressure. Later, I received a letter from VA stating that it could not provide me with medications because I had entered the military with elevated blood pressure. However, it wasn?t high when I was discharged. I have been waiting since that first appointment to be assigned a primary-care physician; it?s been two years or so. During Operation Desert Storm, I slept by oil wells. I blew soot out of my nose all morning long. In December 2000, the Department of Defense sent me a letter stating that my unit had been exposed to nerve agents and to contact VA if I need help. I still suffer from high blood pressure, as well as joint pain and severe bursitis in my hip. I?m frustrated because I gave my country loyal service. Uncle Sam has turned his back on us.


Ernest A. Masche
Hickory, N.C.
Age: 75
Military service: U.S. Army and U.S. Army Reserve, 1945-1953
VA facility: Asheville, N.C., VA Medical Center
Frustration: No primary-care appointment scheduled after more than a year of waiting

My story: I applied for VA health care in March 2002. On Aug. 23, I received a letter stating I had been accepted and placed in Priority Group 5. I have been waiting since then for a primary-care appointment. I recently contacted VA and asked what is taking so long. ?Everyone?s waiting,? I was informed. ?When your number is picked, you?ll get a call.? My wife and I are on a fixed income. I had open-heart surgery four years ago and have had four bypasses. I suffer from angina. We spend between $535 and $650 monthly on my medications. I never was a crybaby. After World War II, I refused a $300 bonus because I felt the military didn?t owe me anything. I served because I love my country. I?ve never asked for a thing but this one time. I?m afraid I might die before help arrives.

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Robert D. Ash
Port Orange, Fla.
Age: 56
Military service: U.S. Army, 1966-1968
VA facility: Daytona Beach, Fla., Clinic
Frustration: Lost job waiting for VA to schedule cataract surgery

My story: I moved to Florida in 2002. I waited seven months for a primary-care appointment, which VA rescheduled twice. When I finally saw the doctor in November, he told me I needed cataract surgery immediately. While I waited for VA to schedule the surgery, I lost my job because of my poor eyesight. I called VA twice. The first call was not returned. The second time I called, the person I spoke with informed me it would be a year before I could have the cataract surgery. I got the runaround and it aggravated me. I called back in January and said it was imperative I have the surgery. After I argued with VA, the surgery was scheduled for late February. I?m hoping to get my job back.



Fabian Deutsch
Magnolia, Minn.
Age: 75
Military service: U.S. Army, 1946-1948
VA facility: Sioux Falls, S.D., VA Medical/Regional Office Center
Frustration: No physical after three years of waiting

My story: I applied for VA care in early 2000. I take eight pills a day for my heart, thyroid and gout. Medications cost me $300 a month. I would like a physical, so I can get cheaper prescriptions. I?ve given up, though. VA has rescheduled my appointment three times and recently told me I may not receive it. I was drafted at 18 and served in the Philippines. I feel I have help coming to me. VA asks if it?s an emergency, and I always say no. Maybe that makes a difference. I know they?ve got all the patients they can handle, but I need help with my pills ? that?s all there is to it.


William Ray Hooks
Denver, N.C.
Age: 69
Military service: U.S. Air Force, 1953-1957
VA facility: W.G. ?Bill? Hefner VA Medical Center, Salisbury, N.C.
Frustration: Still waiting for primary-care appointment after 18 months

My story: I?ve been waiting for a primary-care appointment since December 2001. Recently I received a letter stating my appointment would be June 9. My only experience with VA has been an automated phone system. It?s next to impossible to talk to someone. You have to leave a message. Sometimes they call you back, sometimes they won?t. I spoke to a person once and asked where I was on the list. She wouldn?t tell me. She said 8,500 people were waiting. VA needs additional help. The government doesn?t want to pay money for veterans after they leave the service; that?s the impression I get. I was drafted into the Army but decided to serve in the Air Force. I didn?t volunteer. I gave them four years of my life. They owe me.


Christopher A. Bible
Fort Wayne, Ind.
Age: 40
Military service: U.S. Army National Guard, 1980-1986; U.S. Army, 1988-1989
VA facility: VA Northern Indiana Health Care System, Fort Wayne; Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center, Indianapolis
Frustration: Waited an inordinate amount of time for treatment of a service-connected disability

My story: I applied for VA benefits in 1989, following a medical discharge from the Army for an ankle injury in jump school. I waited six months for tests and a bone scan. I never heard back from VA. Later, my leg began bothering me. I went to the ER and waited 12 hours only to receive a lecture on menstrual cramps and be given Motrin. I asked what that had to do with my leg. I was called ?hostile? and recommended for a psychological evaluation. I left. Two years later, I finally received a letter stating I had been accepted for VA?s vocational rehabilitation program. I?d forgotten about it. For the next few years I just dealt with the pain. Treating the injury became so costly I decided to return to VA. It took three years for VA to decide to operate. I underwent surgery in August 2000. The operation was unsuccessful, and I was off work more than a year. In January 2002, VA fused my ankle and inserted three screws. I was in a cast for eight weeks and off work another eight months. It took months for VA to send the proper letter to my place of employment, allowing me to return to work. I went to a private practice and paid $550 for a foot brace. Having gone eight months without seeing the orthopedic doctor, I argued to see one my next visit to VA. The doctor asked where I got the brace, saying it?s what he would have ordered in the first place. My next visit was scheduled for January, but VA rescheduled it for April. I sat under a poster at VA that says you?ll be treated in 30 minutes or less. I waited six hours. The waiting room for the foot doctor has 30 chairs, and I?ve seen 200 people waiting ? people with casts sitting on the floor, standing up against the wall with crutches. We shouldn?t be treated this way.


Karen E. Daden
Stratford, Conn.
Age: 50
Military service: U.S. Army, 1976-1982
VA facility: VA Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven Campus
Frustration: Disillusioned after 17 years of wading through enrollment process, appointment delays and doctor turnover

My story: I initially applied at West Haven in 1982, after I injured my back and knees in the Army. I waited a day and a half and then sought care elsewhere. I was discharged with a 10-percent disability, affecting my quality of life and what I could do to make a living. From 1991 to 2001, when they finally gave me 100-percent disability, I had to carry my own health insurance, and I am still carrying that. My physical problems worsened to the point where I could not work anymore, and my disability check goes directly to cover the cost of my insurance.

The waiting time at VA is unconscionable. The system is broken. The trust is gone. I have found that VA seems to beat the veteran down until they won?t come back. That way they don?t have to spend so much money, and their budget looks good. A couple of times, when I?ve gone in, they have had no idea why I was there. I was sent to a women?s clinic that was in the basement in one of the buildings, down a very dark and empty hallway. After I was sent there, they had no idea why I was there. I thought, fine I have just wasted my day. I would much rather go to a doctor of my own choosing.

I would give my right arm to talk about this to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. What we need is better care. This needs to be a national debate.


Frank Drabel
Merritt Island, Fla.
Age: 65
Military service: U.S. Coast Guard, 1955-1979
VA facility: Vero Beach, Fla., VA Community-Based Outpatient Clinic
Frustration: Application delay, two-year wait for appointment

My story: I moved to Florida approximately three years ago and applied for my Universal Access Card. That took six to eight months. I have a service-connected 10-percent hearing loss. I asked for an appointment for a hearing test once I got my card. It took nearly two years to get an appointment. This is a service-connected disability, but that seemed to be of no interest. I was disappointed.


Guy C. Gentry Jr.
Durham, N.C.
Age: 64
Military service: U.S. Marine Corps, 1952-1960
VA facility: Durham, N.C., VA Medical Center
Frustration: Long delays, short staffing at VA facility

My story: Although I certainly appreciate the hospital staff and the help I have received on my prescription medicines, I have received no other medical attention for six, now approaching seven, months after signing up. I must go to VA every two weeks and wait four to six hours just to have a physician, or more often a physician?s assistant, OK my prescriptions. You wait four to six hours, and some PA meets you in the hallway and tells you to go pick up your prescription at the pharmacy, where you go and wait another hour, two or three, depending on the number of vets who show up on a particular day.

When I signed up, I was told that it takes six months to be assigned a primary physician. During my last visit, when I asked about my being assigned, I was told the waiting time is now six to eight months. So I continue to make the trip every 12 days or so to the hospital and go through the same procedure.

I am not alone. There are usually 150 or so of my brother vets doing the same thing on any given day. It?s not so bad for me since I live relatively near the hospital, but I speak with other vets while waiting who must drive hundreds of miles to and from the hospital every 10 to 12 days just to have their prescriptions refilled. Since we have two fine teaching hospitals and two fine medical schools, one across the road from VA and the other five miles up the road ? Duke University and the University of North Carolina ? I find it hard to believe that medical professionals are not available. It must be a funding problem.

Joseph Lopez
Colorado Springs, Colo.
Age: 47
Military service: U.S. Navy, 1973-1983
VA facility: Colorado Springs, Colo., Vet Center
Frustration: Difficulty getting appointment after moving to new state

My story: I had no inkling anything was wrong until I got into my 40s. I knew nothing about post-traumatic stress. I did not want anything from the government, other than the education benefits I earned after I was discharged. In the spring of 1996, I was a single dad living in New Mexico. My daughter, who was in the seventh or eighth grade at the time, came to me and said, ?Dad, I?m doing a report on Vietnam.? Part of her homework was to watch the PBS special ?Vietnam: The American Experience.? By chance, they covered the SS Mayaguez operation, which was my first operation in Southeast Asia. I was sitting there, watching, and I became very disturbed by what I saw and what I remembered, the men who were wounded, some horribly maimed, men on the USS Coral Sea on the hangar bay, that amount of carnage to view, the smell, the smell of napalm from the beach-head landing ? what got to me was the moaning and the groaning and the blood. I got up and could not watch it anymore. But I could not put the memories out of my mind.

The next morning, I woke up at 3, trembling. I sensed serious and imminent danger. I kept having these dreams. I was on the whale boats, on the shoals off Cambodia, in my own home. It was overwhelming and disturbing. This was 18 years after the fact. The next day, I got up and went to work, and my supervisor came up and said, ?We?re sorry, but we have to lay you off.? I never before in my life felt homicidal, but I did at that moment. I went home and cried for over an hour. I talked to a friend, an old point man, and he recommended I go to the VA. He said it sounded like I was having a post-traumatic-stress episode.

I went to VA in Albuquerque. They interviewed me and gave my a psychiatric analysis. I started a regimen of antidepressants, but I still woke up remembering the smells, seeing blood on my hands. I was diagnosed with PTSD. They gave me a great psychiatrist there and the medication I needed. I went back to work and raised my children.
I moved to Colorado nine months ago. The first week I was here, I went into the VA. They said they would contact me in 30 days. I called them 60 days later, and they told me it would be 30 days. Seven months went by. No appointment. No medication. I have not been seen by any VA doctors, and my situation has gotten worse. It?s an atrocity. After I contacted my congressman, I got a letter from VA in Colorado saying they had been trying to contact me since 1998, which was funny. I had only been in Colorado for eight months.

If I don?t take my medication, the dreams come back. It?s like a bucket always over your head about to fall on you. I am not seeking financial help. I?m seeking treatment for something that happened to me while I was in the Navy. I have contacted people I served with in other parts of the country. They have the same problems. VA is acting as if they are not responsible. Every time I deal with them, I get depressed. I want to change it somehow. I am not a number. I am a man. I am a man who served his country to the best of my ability for many years. It?s degrading to go to VA, and my situation has gotten worse.


Page 5 of 5


Kenneth Bungay
N. Wilkesboro, N.C.
Age: 70
Military service: U.S. Marine Corps, 1948-1963
VA facility: W.G. ?Bill? Hefner VA Medical Center, Salisbury, N.C.
Frustration: The time it takes to see a doctor

My story: I cannot see why a veteran should have to wait six months to be treated for a medical condition that affects him right now. That?s what it has taken me to see a doctor. I have psoriasis, which is a noncurable disease. I have been told by several people, many doctors, that my case is extreme. While I have been waiting to get into VA, I have spent quite a bit of my own money, money I can?t afford, treating it. I am paying 43 percent of the $700 a month I live on on medications. With VA?s help, that figure will come down and I will be able to live a little better.
I volunteered to go to Korea, and they sent me there. I went of my own free will to fight for my country. I believe I should get a little more respect than this, when I laid my life on the line.





Milton Paul Smith
Fresno, Calif.
Age: 55
Military service: U.S. Air Force, 1971-1991
VA facility: Fresno, Calif., Vet Center
Frustration: Frequent rescheduling of appointments

My story: I have a 20-percent VA disability rating, but primary-care physicians leave Fresno so fast I haven?t had an appointment with a doctor since April 2002 and many cancellations. At least six of my appointments have been rescheduled since 2000.

I retired from active duty in July 1991 after 20 years in the Air Force ? Vietnam, Grenada, Desert Storm ? and had service-connected hearing problems. I applied to go into a VA hospital in 1994 after going through numerous doctors at now-closed Castle AFB and LeMoore Naval Air Station, which said they only saw active duty, 1994-96. I was not allowed to go to the VA hospital in Fresno because of my salary and employer?s insurance. Then I lost my job in 1997 because the company I worked for went bankrupt.

Finally, I received my first hearing aid from VA in 1999 in Brooklyn, N.Y., and a second one in late 2000 in Fresno. Other appointments I had at the Fresno VA clinic were often canceled, delayed or forgotten. Most of the time, they said it was because the primary-care provider had left, and I had to reschedule. After many frustrations and losing another job in March 2002, I had a VA rep assist me in getting a higher disability rating, for my hearing loss. I had to wait until November 2002 for the disability screening and in late December I finally got an appointment for a screening, but as yet have not heard the results.

Overall, VA care and rules are so weird and time-consuming that the whole VA experience is a time-consuming joke, on me. Meanwhile, I remain unemployed with no health insurance and have been forced to move back to New York. I spent 20 years on active duty and 11 years waiting for VA care, which has been slow in coming and partial at best.






Thomas L. Brown
Attica, Ind.
Age: 54
Military service: U.S. Air Force, 1967-1973
VA facility: VA Illiana Health Care System
Frustration: Told by VA to fix own false teeth, appointments rescheduled

My story: I was eating breakfast when my VA false teeth fell apart. I drove to VA thinking they would take them into the dental office and repair them. I am diabetic and cannot risk getting cut or getting a mouth infection. That?s why they made the false teeth for me to start with. They refused to fix them without a primary-care doctor?s consultation. I waited more than two hours and did not get in to see the doctor. The nurse came out and told me they wouldn?t fix the teeth today anyhow. So I would have to go without or fix them myself. I ended up gluing them myself. This is not good service. I can?t eat without teeth. I am totally disabled and can?t get around very good. It?s a pain for me to go out.
Shortly after the teeth episode, I came down with pneumonia. It was a Saturday, so I called VA. The nurse said I would have to wait until Monday. I called Monday, and they said to call Tuesday. By Tuesday, it had gone into both lungs. If they would have taken me Saturday, it wouldn?t have advanced as far as it did. On several occasions, my appointments have been rescheduled.






Paul G. Meredith
East Wenatchee, Wash.
Age: 87
Military service: U.S. Navy, 1934-1940 and 1942-1945
VA facility: Spokane, Wash., VA Medical Center
Frustration: Long waiting time, can?t use Medicare

My story: After quite a hassle, I finally got my red, white and blue card. But that does not mean a thing because one must then be assigned a doctor for any treatment. That takes one to two years. My big beef is that I pay $58 a month for Medicare, and the VA cannot bill for it. I also pay $118 a month for supplemental health insurance. I have no drug coverage, and I have a couple of really expensive prescriptions. You have to have a doctor even to get a pill. If you?re low-income, you just go without. That?s what a lot of them are doing.






George R. Bargmann
Madison, S.D.
Age: 66
Military service: U.S. Army, 1955-1958
VA facility: Sioux Falls, S.D., VA Medical/Regional Office Center
Frustration: Notified by VA appointment reschedule indefinite

My story: In December 2001 I visited the Sioux Falls VA to get information on obtaining an appointment. I received a letter stating my appointment would be Dec. 20, 2002. During the summer another letter arrived, stating my appointment had been rescheduled for Feb. 25, 2003. Then a third letter came, stating my appointment was indefinite ? and that it?s possible I will never receive an appointment. I?m sure some people need the help more than I do. I?ll probably never get in. I would like the reduced cost of prescriptions. If VA had the funds, it could serve us better.






Kenneth W. Middlemiss
Oakdale, Pa.
Age: 75
Military service: U.S. Army, 1946-1947
VA facility: VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, University Drive Division
Frustration: Waited 18 months for primary-care appointment

My Story: I first applied in June 2001 and didn?t receive word back from VA, even though a buddy who applied at the same time was contacted. I called VA, and they said they did not receive my paperwork. I sent a new application in April 2002. I finally got an appointment to see a primary-care physician in January. It took a lot of phone calls, paperwork and help from Bill Crookshank, American Legion District 36 commander. In all fairness, VA finally got around to me ? even though it was 18 months later.