May Be Changing My Tune

Saturday afternoon I got a firsthand look at what the proposed health care might look like. A great deal of the bill demands treatment much like you will find for our veterans at VA hospitals around the nation. Some of that care is very good, but other institutions are lacking in quality and timeliness.

I took my brother-in-law to Carl Hayden VA Hospital here in Phoenix for emergency treatment for a back problem and an issue with his recently amputated leg. As we entered the small area of the waiting room, we were immediately met with a great many people either waiting for treatment, or who had just been treated and were expecting medication.

We came into ED about 1:10 and my brother-in-law went back around 1:25 and saw triage nurse. I thought that this was rather quick and proudly thought to myself that if this was how Obamacare worked, then I did not understand what the fuss was about. Jim returned at 1:45, pretty quick, huh? He was told there were 3 doctors and things were going quickly, but at 3:20, he was still sitting in waiting room to see a doctor along with about 10 other patients.

At one point, a man who had been waiting on treatment for over two hours tore his ID band off and left in anger. A member of the staff commented, "He has only been here two hours. He should consider himself lucky." He was right.

Another man waited 3 hours to get his medications; I have no idea how long he waited for his appointment.

At 1:19, an elderly man entered the Emergency Department in obvious distress; he is put in wheel chair and let sit. He complains of nausea, fatigue, chills. He has the dry heaves & trouble breathing, but it takes about 10 minutes before he is seen. Not a pleasant sight as he struggles, gags, and chokes in front of everyone in the waiting room.

1:30 he is finally called back, we do not see him again.

After waiting in the most uncomfortable chairs around (All waiting room chairs, whether in doctor's offices or ERs are uncomfortable by design) I go up to the window and ask for some information about waiting times, number of doctors, etc.

A staff member tells me that some days patients could wait up to six hours for help. Three hours into our wait, a call for "rapid response" brought no fewer than six health professionals. They left about five minutes later upon the death of their patient. How did I know the patient died?

A few minutes after that, staff members wheel the body through the waiting room, face uncovered, pretending they are taking the non-breathing person to a room.

Jim is called back at 4:21. He returns at 4:52. His medications finally arrive a half hour later. Almost four hours later, we are able to exit the emergency room. But wait, he does not have all his medications! According to ER rules that the VA has, some of the medications can only be for four days, so now he has to return on Monday (Today), get in line, see a patient advocate who may or may not approve the additional meds, then return again on Wednesday to pick them up. Pretty inconvenient, isn't it?

Although Jim's doctors were excellent, he says, the system is broken and a great bureaucracy. There was no room for common sense in it, and, at least in the case of the gentleman who expired, not a great deal of sensitivity.

VA care is pretty much the model that Obamacare is built upon.

After watching this exercise in social medicine at Carl Hayden Hospital, I may have to change my tune. If this is how vets are treated and IF all VA hospitals run like this, how can the general population expect better?

Doughnut

Addendum--- I know that not all VA Hospitals are like this. The VA in Tucson is pretty good and efficient. The people are great and seem happy and eager to help. So, if that is the model, then things will be fine.