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Review of Veteran’s Administration Pitts...

First, The Volunteers- Very friendly, help-minded ...

First, The Volunteers- Very friendly, help-minded individuals. The Nurses - Never a problem with the nurses, thorough, helpful, and caring. The Doctors - As you would suspect, there are some problems. I ve been through 7 PC s. 3 were moved to other Depts (I was happy with those 3). This is a frequent occurrence with VA. The good ones get moved. Now the other 4. I requested changes on these four for various reasons. One was just going through the motions, he really didn t care, not a Dr that one could talk to. Two seemed very helpful and caring about the Vets, but were very hard to understand. 1 left VA for greener pastures. 1 would not pay attention to what I was saying, sent me to a specialist for my blood. He told me what I needed to do and said I should have blood work every 3 months. My PC did not do that. I was kept on every 6 months for blood work. She said she couldn t find anything that stated every 3 months. Here s a thought, talk to the other Dr. They seem to be more interested in typing information into the computer than listening to patients. Now will be seeing my 8 th PC. This one will be a PA or whatever VA calls them.
Behavior Health: Good, bad, and the ugly. First off, the 2 best Psychologists I ve had were fresh out of college. One was an intern, the other had been an intern, then was certified. She was the last one I had. She really cared about Veterans with psychological problems. She brought me back from a cold, dark, world. She saved me. Now, however, I will be moving on to a different Psychologist because she has moved on to a private practice. The others I ve had were definitely unacceptable. Burn outs, that no longer cared. I think that s what happens when they keep hearing patient after patient talk about their problems. They burn out. That being said, Psychologists outside of VA are good, bad, and terrible also. When I tried to change for my first Psychologist, the snotty clerk in Behavior Health said, you can t do that. What? A patient has every right to request a change of Doctors. Went through the Patient Advocate and took care of that.
Which brings me to the Patient Advocate. There are 2 people in the office. I was working with one of them when I was having the PC problems, she was helping me decide what PC I would like to try. She said call me back in 3 days and I will have the ones that have openings and I could choose which I wanted. I gave it 4 days, called back and she was out of the office that day. When I told the other one what I was calling about, changing PC s, she says We don t do that . Huh? I happened to hav3 another appointment at Oakland campus the following day. When the door is closed, there is a patient in there discussing their problem. Don t knock or open the door. When I got to the PA office, the door was not closed, I poked my head in to say something, and the same one that told me they didn t help with changing PC s, said, can t you see I m on the phone! What s wrong with you? What s wrong with me? You are the worthless that left the door open. Both of these experiences were reported. Guess who is still a PA? PA s should be Veteran held positions. Who better understands Veteran s concerns than a Veteran? This goes for most of clinics and primary care clinics. Stop hiring locals that are only there for the money and benefits, they don t care what they do. Certainly don t care about doing their jobs. At times there are 3 receptionists sitting there, none talking to patients, because it s one Veteran at a time at the counter for privacy laws. Three of them sitting there. One doing her nails, one texting on her cell phone, one is on the phone. A couple times there have been 3 or 4 just yakking away. None of them even pay attention to you standing there like you were a statue. Yes, this VA has some deep rooted problems. Some are easily fixable with awareness. Being aware of the jobs people are doing. Hold people accountable, be dedicated to the Veterans they are trusted to treat. Hire Veterans for non-medical positions.