 |
| The Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Memphis |
By Wiley Henry
Before the VA hospital scandal made its way to Washington, D.C.,
and landed squarely on the desk of President Barack Obama, the Memphis VA
Medical Center was mired in its own scandal in 2012, the year three patients
died in the emergency room. An investigation ensued and the VA Office of
Inspector General (OIG) Office of Healthcare Inspections concluded that the
deaths resulted from inadequate care.
Widespread problems with the nation's hospitals for veterans –
including recent reports of delayed treatments, preventable deaths, and efforts
to falsify records – drew a strong rebuke from the president: "I will not
stand for it," said Obama, who met with Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric
Shinseki in the Oval Office last week prior to a news conference.
The VA facility in Phoenix particularly drew the ire of the
president and prompted the OIG to investigate. The inspector general announced
the department's findings on Wednesday (May 28th): At least 1,700 veterans at
the medical center were not registered on the proper waiting lists to see the
doctors, thereby causing veterans to be at risk of being forgotten or lost.
A number of reports were released by the OIG within the last few
days in response to a number of allegations that were brought to light by
confidential complainants and substantiated by the OIG after concluding its
investigations.
The sweeping allegations of misconduct and questionable medical
practices at the veteran facilities have drawn sharp criticism from Ninth
Congressional District U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, who pledged his support to the
nation's veterans. He has also invited Shinseki to come to Memphis to reassure
the nearly 200,000 veterans served by the VA hospital here that their concerns
are taken seriously.
On Tuesday (May 27th) afternoon, State Rep. G.A. Hardaway and
State Rep. Karen Camper, a veteran herself, facilitated a town hall meeting for
veterans at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library. They took notes and recorded
the veterans' testimonies in hopes of locating resources that may be available
at the local, state and federal levels.
Following the investigation of the Memphis facility a year ago,
the inspector general mandated corrective action. The call for corrective
measures came after an anonymous complainant alleged that a patient with a drug
allergy was given the wrong medication and died. A second patient died after
being administered multiple sedating drugs and left unattended. And a third
patient with very high blood pressure died after treatment was delayed.
Last week, Tennessee's U.S. senators, Lamar Alexander and Bob
Corker, inquired about updates on changes made at the facility via a letter
sent to Robert A. Petzel, the Department of Veterans Affairs' undersecretary
for health.
Changes at the VA hospital...
According to the Memphis VA hospital, changes have already begun
in the emergency department. The hospital will spend approximately $5 million
to renovate and expand the Emergency Department (ED) to improve urgent care
delivery and access for its patients. The work will be executed in three phases
and take about 1.5 years to complete.
One of the primary changes includes relocating the admissions
area to the first floor of the Bed Tower. Structural changes also include
closing some entrances and opening others to accommodate the flow of patient,
employee and visitor traffic.
Only patients with "true" emergencies,
or life-threatening issues, will be permitted to enter through the emergency
room.
Other changes have already begun to take place, hospital
officials said Wednesday in response to an inquiry from The New Tri-State
Defender. A new nurse manager with ED experience, for example, has been hired
along with 14 additional nurses. Training for the nursing staff also will be expanded
to ensure they are competent and certified.
A Patient Care Assistant desk has been established that
navigates 25 percent of patients with minor complaints to an appropriate
provider instead of directly to the ED. And to expedite dispositions, patient flow
coordinators have been established in the ED to communicate the status of
patient tests with providers.
Additional administrative staff has been hired as well and an
Admissions Office has been designated to coordinate admissions and transfers.
Still other changes are being made as well to improve medical care for its
veterans, according to the written response for the Memphis VA.
Reiterating his support...
Cohen said three congressional staffers at his Memphis office
work daily on veteran affairs and that much of their constituent service is
centered on veterans.
"With more and more of our nation's veterans returning from
combat suffering from PTSD and serious injuries, I will continue supporting the
president's efforts to make sure they are treated with the utmost respect and
receive timely, high-quality care at the Memphis VAMC or any other VAMC,"
Cohen said.
Some of the problems with veteran hospitals could be solved if
Congress appropriates more funding for more doctors and health care
professionals, said Cohen.
There was a proposal to increase funding for the nation's
veterans hospitals, he said, "but the Republicans refused to fund it. They
stopped it in the Senate. Some of the problems are a lack of funding and the
Republicans refuse to fund it."
Having their say...
The veterans who came out to the town hall meeting on Tuesday
afternoon had much to say about the VA fiasco that is triggering calls for
reform. Several were quite vocal about their own personal experiences regarding
health care and other veteran issues.
Some of them talked about the city providing homes for
struggling veterans and homeless people and using vacant school buildings, if
they could be repurposed as transitional homes or facilities. One veteran spoke
about his dissatisfaction with the VA hospital.
More than 70 veterans and their families attended the meeting.
"The goal was to get information directly from the veterans
through their testimonies," said Hardaway.
Randy Wade, a Navy veteran who served in Vietnam, advocated for
veterans in his former job as district director for Cohen. At Tuesday's hearing
he polled the veterans to ascertain the number who were dissatisfied with the
treatment they've received from the VA hospital.
"About 99 percent are unhappy," said Wade, who expressed
his dissatisfaction with the Department of Veterans Affairs and the local VA
hospital. Wade's former co-worker, Willie Henry Jr., Cohen's deputy director,
was present and spoke briefly.
Hardaway said hospitals such as Regional One Health (formerly
the Regional Medical Center) could stand in the gap for the VA hospital in
terms of immediacy of services.
"We want to look to see what we can do to bring in the MED,
Methodist, the University of Tennessee – whatever local medical services we
have – to complement the services that the VA hospital isn't delivering."
The VA hospital, Hardaway said, should be held accountable for
the job that it is charged to do to ensure accessibility and provide affordable
care to veterans. He said the veterans' testimonies would be shared with some
of the state agencies and made available to Sen. Alexander's office as well.
Hardaway's deceased brother was a Vietnam-era Marine and his
father, also deceased, was a World War II Army veteran.
"It's personal to me," he said.
(TSD freelance reporter Ashley Grandberry contributed to this
story.)
No comments:
Post a Comment