Bram
Recycles dryer sheets
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2006
- Messages
- 227
With the latest scandal about the care & conditions in the Walter Reed Medical Center, I am reminded of my longstanding overall impression that VA Hospitals & Clinics, as well as the medical care itself, are often substandard to the medical care & facilities used by the general public.
I listened the other day to an interview of Bob Woodruff the ABC News journalist who was injured in Iraq. He suffered a traumatic brain injury & was immediately treated by the military medical staff at a field hospital, I believe. He credits them with saving his life. He was in a comatose state for over 30 days. IIRC, he went to Walter Reed upon returning to the USA for about 3 weeks, then because he had the option (read private insurance) he transferred to a top-notch rehabilitation facility in NYC. He has made great strides in his recovery and listening to him it sounds miraculous. He stated that most of those injured in Iraq do not have the option of choosing where they will receive their treatment, which could be far from friends & family, and that the VA System is overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of returning injured soldiers/marines needing care & treatment.
I have long thought that the VA System should be abandoned in terms of having separate physicians, clinics, hospitals, rehab centers, nursing homes and the like. The active or retired members of the military & their families could be treated within the communities where thery are stationed or live in the US. It seems to me that public & private hospitals, for example, undergo a lot more scrutiny & oversight (JCAHO, licensing, department of health reviews, etc) than does the VA facilities.
Perhaps I am naive, or just ignorant, but I just can't imagine that such deplorable conditions as were reported at WR would exist in a civilian medical facility. Our military deserves the very best of care in an efficient manner.
I listened the other day to an interview of Bob Woodruff the ABC News journalist who was injured in Iraq. He suffered a traumatic brain injury & was immediately treated by the military medical staff at a field hospital, I believe. He credits them with saving his life. He was in a comatose state for over 30 days. IIRC, he went to Walter Reed upon returning to the USA for about 3 weeks, then because he had the option (read private insurance) he transferred to a top-notch rehabilitation facility in NYC. He has made great strides in his recovery and listening to him it sounds miraculous. He stated that most of those injured in Iraq do not have the option of choosing where they will receive their treatment, which could be far from friends & family, and that the VA System is overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of returning injured soldiers/marines needing care & treatment.
I have long thought that the VA System should be abandoned in terms of having separate physicians, clinics, hospitals, rehab centers, nursing homes and the like. The active or retired members of the military & their families could be treated within the communities where thery are stationed or live in the US. It seems to me that public & private hospitals, for example, undergo a lot more scrutiny & oversight (JCAHO, licensing, department of health reviews, etc) than does the VA facilities.
Perhaps I am naive, or just ignorant, but I just can't imagine that such deplorable conditions as were reported at WR would exist in a civilian medical facility. Our military deserves the very best of care in an efficient manner.