Vietnam War Veterans Analysis

War veterans have been experiencing poor service dating back to an article released in 1974, these issues are still occurring today, and they are ending fatally (WND Staff, Military and Defense par. 1). The Veteran Health Administration (VA) was established in 1778 and provides medical care, benefits, and burials/memorials for all American veterans. To get into the VA system one must be discharged from the armed services and then enroll in the system. Patients must undergo a test to review their information (Zezima par. 5,7). Long wait times and false records are problems the public is facing, which is causing multiple fatalities. Curt Devine stated on CNN, “More than 1,000 veterans may have died in the last decade because of malpractice or
lack of care from Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers” (par. 1). Veterans being mistreated like they are in these hospitals is wrong and a serious issue, but it is not too late to clean up the system by developing calculated plans to improve many different aspects of the VA.
The wait times in the VA hospitals are unbearable, and for some patients fast treatment is critical. A fourteen day goal was implemented in the hospitals to encourage the medical staff to treat patients within a reasonable time, however that goal was broken. Records were forced to be falsified to fit the fourteen day goal, but in reality patients waited much longer than just the fourteen days (Huntsberry-Lett par. 3). Ashley Huntsberry-Lett, an author who studied the VA wait times at the Phoenix VA hospital discovered “that nearly 60,000 veterans have had to wait at least 90 days for initial appointments with a physician, and some 64,000 veterans who sought appointments in the last 10 years have simply never been seen” (par. 2). Statistics explained by Huntsberry-Lett also revealed that there were 35 confirmed deaths while patients were waiting for their appointment, but it is unknown if the deaths were a coincidence or whether it was the lack of treatment the veteran received (par. 1). However, the VA system confessed that 23 deaths were caused by the extended wait times (Devine par. 3). With the controversy spreading around, 731 VA hospitals were audited, nearly all of the facilities audited had altered the wait list data to fit the fourteen day policy or created a secret list to cover how long people actually waited for care (Huntsberry-Lett par. 2). Huntsberry-Lett explained that the goal wasn't reached, because of the few medical professionals and the small amount of time they have to schedule patients. The author also announced that the employees of the VA covered up their failure to comply to the two week goal to protect the performance bonuses that they receive annually (Huntsberry-Lett par. 3).
The issues surrounding the veteran hospitals has not only been occurring recently, but an article published in 1974 criticises the VA system. The problems reported then was critical staff shortages and a lack of space to provide adequate emergency care for the veterans (WND Staff, Military and Defense par. 1). Most of the problems facing the VA according to the World News Digest staff were, “difficulty in recruiting doctors, nurses and other staff because of lower pay than that offered by private hospitals and private practice; lack of surgeons skilled in providing highly specialized services, as caring for paraplegics; shortage of space and adequate equipment, resulting in overcrowding and reduced standards of care; and complex eligibility standards confusing to veterans” (Military and Defense par. 3). These difficulties in the VA hospitals took place during President Nixon's term of presidency. In attempts to improve the system a long time ago Nixon urged Congress to increase the budget 190 million dollars the first year and the next year add another 235 million dollars (WND Staff, Military and Defense par. 2). Nixon's solution did not take much effect considering the VA scandal still exists today. Another article released in 1991 explains Mary Ann Curran’s, a congressional investigator, experience at the VA hospitals. She described that she found poor health-care at six VA hospitals and that the physicians rarely reviewed their patients (WND Staff, Medicine and Health par. 1). Curran added to her statement that, “We discovered several cases of patients who had died because of errors made by unsupervised interns or residents” (qtd. in WND Staff, Medicine and Health par. 2). Curran’s testament proves that the complications of the VA have been occurring over decades.
Wait times and poor care is not the only flaw, the management of the Veteran Affairs Department caused many troubles.
Curt Devine with CNN spoke with Sen. Tom Coburn, a physician, and Devine reported that Coburn said, “that if the VA's budget had been properly handled and the right management had been in place, many of these deaths could have been avoided” (par. 4). The VA department lost billions of dollars as a result of the substandard management and that is ruining the medical care of the veterans (Devine par. 6). About 1.5 billion more than usual was spent on construction of four VA hospitals, and a substantial amount of money went toward paying legal settlements (Devine par. 9). The report says, “Since 2001, the VA has paid about $845 million in malpractice costs, of which $36.4 million was used to settle claims involving delayed health care” (Devine par. 10). The staff and environment of the VA hospitals were defective as well, this can be shown by the outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease, a rare form of pneumonia, in 2011-2012. The spreading of the disease was not because of damaged equipment, rather a human mistake. In Pittsburgh at least six veterans died from the severe outbreak of the disease (Zezima par. 18). A report taken by CNN revealed the corrupt staff, it declares, “crimes committed by VA staff, including drug dealing, theft and sexual abuse of patients dating back many years” (Devine par. 14). At the VA in Florida a staff member was sentenced six years in
prison for trading a veterans’ personal and confidential records for cocaine (Devine par. 14). The VA system has made numerous unethical and dishonest decisions, hurting the veteran affairs department each time.
Massive plans have been made for the future with a majority of the plans revolving around the financial aspects of the system. These plans will progressively take a toll on the taxpayers and the federal government because the new VA bill is rationing out 35 billion dollars to the veterans health-care system in the span of three years (Huntsberry-Lett par. 6). With the new increase in budget the VA is going to build new facilities, hire a larger quantity of medical staff who are qualified, and add private care. A bill passed by congress mandates that the VA is forced to pay for private care of veterans that live 40 miles away from a hospital (Huntsberry-Lett par. 6). Other reforms announced by secretary McDonald are expected to be put in place and have been listed by Tom Price, an author for CQ Press. One of the solutions proposed was to “[s]implify the VA's structure so veterans have a single point of contact” (1000). Single point contact would create personalized visits, benefiting both the patient and physician. Another proposition is to involve the community by establishing community veteran advisory councils. Creating these councils allows the public to aid veterans on a local level (Price 1000). A way to fix the broken management of the VA was to fire four senior officials (Devine, et al par. 1). According to the VA headquarters, “Directors at the VA
health care systems in Pittsburgh, central Alabama and Dublin, Georgia, are in the process of being fired, and the VA's deputy chief procurement director in Washington is also in line to lose her job” (Devine, et al par. 2). Additionally, the house passed a bill specifically to improve the protocol for terminating employees based on misconduct and poor performance (Daly par. 1). With the bill making it easier to fire employees it will eliminate the staff that make detrimental decisions. Devine and Griffin with CNN wrote, “As a solution, the commission recommends establishing a ‘VHA Care System,’ which would function as a network of VA, Department of Defense and VA-approved private healthcare providers available to all enrolled veterans” (par. 7). The VHA Care System is one of the newly developed programs aimed to refine the VA. Presidential candidate, Donald Trump has created a ten point plan with a goal to reform the Department of Veterans Affairs. A point in his vision includes, “Stop giving bonuses to any VA employees who are wasting money, and start rewarding employees who seek to improve the VA's service, cut waste, and save lives”. He believes that the bonuses should be earned, that being said, it would motivate staff to have optimal performance and ultimately provide better care. Similar to revoking or rewarding bonuses, Trump would like to ensure that the jobs are secure of the trustworthy and reliable employees who call attention to those who have done dishonorable acts. McDonald and Trump both have the same idea of having a suggestion box, more specifically Trump proposed, “Create a private White House hotline, which will be active 24 hours a day answered by a real person. It will be devoted to answering veteran's complaints of wrongdoing at the VA and ensure no complaints fall through the cracks”. With this approach it ensures that all of the medical staff provide service to the best of their ability because they know that if someone is not satisfied with their experience they will have an opportunity to voice their opinion knowing that actions will be taken against the mistreatment. Multiple solutions have been discussed by a variety of people including, the community, the head of the Veterans department, and the current presidential candidates. Considering all of the assistance this scandal is receiving, one of these solutions may take effect in the currently immoral system. The Veteran Affairs Department has experienced extremely unethical circumstances for decades. Wait times, dishonest and corrupt employees, lack of medical care, and poor management to name a few are just the main flaws of the VA system. However, plans of improvement have been in the works for a long time, but are still being refined today. With the help of an increased budget, new medical and management staff, renovated care facilities, and the well thought out plans directed towards the reform of the VA, the goal will potentially be fulfilled. The objective is to increase services offered to veterans from the medical staff and the fatalities to decrease. The veterans that have fought for our country deserve the proper medical care, and these reforms are a major step in the right direction.