El Paso VA Heath Care System Review

Theres a very interesting store thats like a mini px in the bottom of the hospital. Why someone would buy a 55" tv at a hospital is beyond me but pretty nifty regardless

Just got my first COVID shot. I thought the whole process from the time I registered to today was well organized. Great job VA!!

What's the point if having a VA benefits office here if it's never open. Yes you can speak to the 1800 number but that has been worthless been trying for 4 months to get 1 form filled out and signed for my dad applying for medicaid and they keep sending back everything but what I need. I understand covid but is it to much to ask for at least 1 person to stand up and do their job? The only office not open yet and it is one of the most important.

In my experience, all my trips and visits to this facility has been great! The staff are friendly and professional and the place is very clean. I am thankful that these health services exist for veterans.

RUN. Move to another city if you have to. DO NOT SEEK CARE HERE, ESPECIALLY IF YOU'RE A WOMAN VETERAN. Your health isn't even a consideration to this place or their people. I'm beyond fed up.

The pharmacy cannot seem to get medications sent out regularly, to the tune of being late by 3 or more months on some of my medications. This includes medications that are life-threatening to stop suddenly.

Women veterans can only be seen for primary care in the women's clinic, by OBGYN doctors as their primary care doctors.

I can use secure messaging to contact my care team, but am not supposed to give any details through secure messaging about my health.

I can now request an appointment online, which they promptly cancel, and then call me, even when I've clearly expressed difficulties with using the phone. Requesting an appointment online simply means they'll call me to schedule, instead of me calling them. Getting an in person appointment is nearly impossible, and requires no less than 2 phone calls, if you're lucky. This will be followed by them calling to insist it be switched to a phone call, even when the necessary exams cannot be done that way.

If there's any COVID vaccines to be had for veterans through the VA, nobody can tell me how to go about that, despite being high risk.

The VA has sent me to Quest to get labs drawn during the pandemic, and then told Quest I'm not their patient and refuses to pay for the labs, and, of course, I have no way to resolve this that doesn't require multiple phone calls to who knows how many people who may or may not be able and willing to help

I'm unable to see a rheumatologist because the only ones in town have a 10 month or longer waiting list, so I repeatedly just get told they'll get back to me, only to never hear from them again.

The El Paso VA used to have some really good, caring people working for them, but this system is deeply broken. And the shortage of parking is outrageous.

How sad on this momentous day that I write such a terrible letter to the Federal Government. But my husband may die from the lack of attention, care, and ambiguity over benefits so I have no time to lose.
For a year now my husband has been attempting to get his teeth fixed (he has a rotten tooth that needs extracting) both in the VA and private practice. No PRIVATE dentist will touch him because he is a type 1 diabetic and has hypertension. Every time we have attempted to go to a dentist to have his teeth fixed he is turned away because of his high blood pressure and told to go to the ER. The VA turns him away from dental because he is not 100% - even though this tooth decay is SERVICE INJURY CONNECTED. He can not eat well to control his blood sugar, his blood sugar levels directly affect his hypertension, his hypertension does not allow a private dentist to extract the tooth, and he can't eat to take care of his diabetes. See the circles here?
We have lived in Austin, TX and in Seattle, WA where each of these VA's have been incredible at addressing his issues and continuing care from disabilities... but as soon as we arrived in El Paso we were SOL. Run around in circles, speaking to VERY rude people, no one seems to know the law regarding service connected disabilities, and as time passes on so does his health. His primary care doctor, Dr. Shafi, has flat out refused any referral for him to be cared for by dental ignoring his referrals from emergency room doctors, his endocrinologists, and gastroenterologists. Things were looking so dire, that I reached out to THE DIRECTOR of the VA - Mike Amaral and his response was as follows:
Mike Amaral 7:20 AM
Thank you but I would still like to know by what other means you tried resolving this prior to reaching out to me. Things like this should not rise to my level so I want to ensure that our processes are working, especially with some of your claims. Thanks
We still have no resolution to our problem and continue to be treated with disdain from most of the call representatives, his primary care Dr. Shafi, and even the director... who seemed to be annoyed he was disturbed even though my husband could die from being unable to eat as a type 1 diabetic.
El Paso's VA needs to get their act together and possibly better leadership to implement better processes so disabled veterans like my husband - can have the assistance they need but more importantly the assistance they DESERVE.

I went in the ER with a problem. They did a great job .The issue got refered to the GI department. Where they took care of the problem. They removed the obstruction from my throat, and two pollaps. They found the reason for the why this is happening and will get it squared away soon. Good job . Thank you again to the ER personal and the OR personal. Outstanding work.

Second time at the Dental Clinic and the staff is very courteous and professional.

I've been dealing with them for years now and they have never given me a reason to believe they are there to do anything but get me in and out as quickly as possible and keep me juuuuuust satisfied enough to think they're actually helping. My condition has worsened greatly as my doctor has stalled my care at every given opportunity. It's about 50-50 if I'll even get someone to answer my calls, and the odds are far lower that they'll be helpful. After having an appointment cancelled three times in a month and then finally getting one to stick only to have him SHOW UP AN HOUR LATE I am finished. I'd rather become another statistic than deal with this place again.