Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Houston Review

Just a garbage institution all around. They would rather see me dead than to treat me.

WENT FOR MRI, DID QUESTIONS, TEMPS, MRI, CAFETERIA, GRILL AND SUSHI ONLY OPEN, YPU MUST GO 45 MIN. EARLY,

I'm a veteran and receive all my medical needs there, to me the service is really fast, on any given day I'm out within 45 minutes unless I have more than one appointment

The VA's police think they are above the law and treat vets with disrespect, violent harassment, and unlawful commands. Unacceptable for America!

I'm a young, female veteran and I love this clinic. I feel they're handling covid very well and are doing the best they can during this time.

Great care by most doctors. Best health care I have had from military and private care. I love that all care is available in one location ie primary care, specialists like ENT, dermatologist, mental health etc

You need to arrive 2 hours BEFORE your appointment to find a parking space....good luck!

The Houston VA is a Top Notch Health Care Facility. Recently I had the need to have Surgery and a follow up visit in the Emergency Room a few days later. The entire Surgery Team from the reception area, to staging, to the pre-op teams along with the Chaplain were better then I have ever experienced in the civilian medical community. The Doctors and Nurses I had were highly trained and experienced. Some of them were at he top tiers of their professions with national and international distinctions. To be an attending Surgeon at the largest VA in the nation, I assume they have to be the best. Just as in Teaching, admin doesn't send the new teachers to be supervised by the worst teachers. The Operating Room I was takin into was State of the Art from my knowledge. They used an advanced Robot for the surgery. It was obvious that they had safety processes and procedures built in with redundancy. The recovery room and the discharge process was excellent. They even talked with my family during the operation. In addition, I can't say enough about the ER Doctors and Nurses. I had as scary as an encounter as one could ever have regarding a possible blood clot in my heart and lungs and the Doctors and Nurses were very helpful with updated info that I needed to process. My primary care Doctor even followed up almost immediately after the ER visit. In sum, Houston Veterans should be thankful for the outstanding employees and facility we are so fortunate to have here in the Texas Medical Center. I have civilian insurance and prefer to use the VA hands down over the community hospitals.

I have received very good treatment! I find the staff to be courteous and kind.

My Dad came here for a routine check up. He didn't feel or look well that morning and after tests, it was discovered he had a small heart attack. Thankfully, he recovered from that and is now on the first floor getting rehab to get strong and come home. I can honestly say my experience with the VA from the administrative staff, housekeeping, nursing, doctors, volunteers and everyone in between, has been SO kind and patient with my Dad & family. This hospital is an outstanding example of CARE in healthcare for our Veterans. My Dad is slowly getting stronger and we hope to bring him home soon. I appreciate you VA Medical Center!

My husband is a veteran and he always receives the best care possible every time we visit

I have received very good treatment! I find the staff to be courteous and kind.

Nasty restrooms with turned over rat traps in middle of women's bathroom 1st floor next to red elevators at 7 am, good morning .very racist hospital , treat the vets like garbage thrown out,this isn't a prison, everytime we go here it sucks the waiting time, the snottyness, cuz most of the people behind them counter are black people, some good some bad, but ur working with vets and in public so be careful how u treat them, remember to days technology, I'm beginning to use that technology, click, click, click...

How do i set up appointment when im being put on hold for hours? Ive literally just finished a 2hr movie on hold after talking to someone? Update: got a hold of someone and said they would call back days later no call back.

If you want dental work, start 10 years before you actually need it. They invented procrastinating.

IF YOU ARE A VET IN THE HOUSTON AREA, YOU NEED TO GET YOUR BENEFITS. DONT THIS IS THE FINEST VA HOSPITAL IN THE COUNTRY. And I have been to many of them around the country. This is the most efficient hospital non-VA included that I have ever been a patient at. I went to the Triage having a manic episode and I went at 9 am by 11 am i was seen by a doctor, had a temporary primary mental health care provider assigned, meds dispensed and had brief counseling. That was in 2010, I have been involved with the va ever since. If you need an X-ray, you go down to X-ray immediately and get it done, if you need blood drawn, you go get it drawn, if you need an MRI you go down and get one if they have space. The rumors about the VA ignoring patients or being overall crappy do not apply to this hospital.

Racist social worker, c and p adjusters outright lie or ignore you. Generally no care about veterans they don't care though. Never will

Went there with a crushed sciatic nerve in my lower back. After four visits to their "pain" clinic I went there after having fell for the third time getting out of the shower and begged the doctors there for surgery. The lead doctor came in with a black and white print out of one of my 100's of MRI photos and said. "I just can't see anything here we could operate on." Then I asked "Then what is causing all the pain?"(Nearly crying) and the doctor replied, "What pain?"

Not a good hospital. Not great with patients. Just not pleased with this hospital.

A nurse killed my father there..and got away with it. All veterans should be aware of a loophole called (loss of chance doctrine )...basically gives them a pass if they kill someone.

Cardiologists at center saved my life.terrence and Lisa in cardio are great.good experience in p.t clinic also.must say that neurological services are totally substandard,and useless.throughout center there are some non medical staff that should not be there.parking is gut wrenching,but if you have patience it works.free valet.hurry up and wait!outpatient lab is always full but mark makes it work.other than neuro clinic and parking I'm satisfied.

Everyone between admissions to the pharmacy took great care of me.

The va told me I had to get in contact with my primary care team in order to seek metal health which I was never assigned from them almost 2 months ago and that it would take 15-30 days before they can get me in. This is why vet have such a hard time adjusting abs why some hurt themselves and others because they get on help. I'm not one of those people but when does help come. This is what they get paid to do.

Doctors are very professional. Staff needs help with hospitality. Only area of opportunity I noticed

Worldclass. The surgery I needed was too complicated for any hospital or surgeon in little rock.

I smashed my left toe really bad.. and new I needed someone to look at it.
I first went to the Conroe VA Outpatient Clinic. They were great! Took me in as a walk in (I first called the Downtown number and they put me in). After a little wait, (normal) was shown in and several nurses & doctors saw my. They referred me to the DeBakey Med Center Location.
I immediately went there last night, and again the normal wait time. Saw a nurse and then the doctor. All in all it took 10 hours total with travel and two office waits.
I only saw the most professional staff at either location. Listened to me, they gave me great advice and in home care instructions. They were the most pleasant of any hospital I've been to.
I never got that level of personal interest from the other big hospitals in Houston.
Chris Pfeiffer
Air Force
Army

My husband served two terms in Korea seen combat, went to the VA Hospital two years ago for peeing pure red blood waited in ER for a long time was finally seen by a Dr. was told it was normal. my husband had a catheter which the Dr. never looked at. He did no labs, my husband was discharged returned to Beaumont to Baptist Hospital ER, He was admitted with irrigation going and was scheduled for surgery with Dr. Socher who went in and cleaned out his prostate now the VA finally wants to do surgery two years later, my husband has always gotten a run around with the VA in Houston but he likes the clinic in Beaumont

I wanted relay to the DeBakey team, how much Ashley helped me in the Eligibility Department. I ruptured a disc in my back, so I could not make it to the hospital to register. Ashley took the time to e-mail me the form, offered a better location, told me of my qualifications, followed up with me, and also offered to help me set appointments and followed up again by phone and e-mail. I know this was above and beyond the call of duty and I thought the team and public should know how compelling my experience was yesterday. I know President Obama wanted the service to the veterans to improve as one of his initiatives and this is a great example.

Thank you Ashley,

John

Despite reports of abuse and another veteran ignored for asking why his accident report disappeared (@ VA Hospital), and reports of improper clinical protocols not followed - none of these things elicits the slightest curiosity by the VA Hospital director, Francisco Vazquez. The same for his predecessors.

This VA facility and its medical staff represents one of the best medical resources available in the world. Most are caring, professional people. The scam is that you have immediate access and will see your doctor twice per year, but they withhold access to medical specialists, often until it is too late.

Make an appointment and you won't have a longer waiting time,to see a doctor

Never had an issue coming here, there is always a wait which is to be expected with all the veterans there are in this area. I have found their staff to be very informative and pleasant. I have had a few issues trying to get through on the phone though.

If your a vet like i am do not call this place the lady on the phone had no idea what she was doing and i could hear another employee arguing with a vet on the phone this must be a bad joke.

I would give no star if I could. Just ordered parts for my breathing machine that I need to live and they told me it would take a month/month in a half to get the parts sent to me. Office closes every single day at 4:30 and aren't open on weekends. Couldn't even leave parts in other location so I could pick up. So now, either my wife has to miss work or I have to wait a month MINIMUM for something that I need and use on a daily basis. Glad to know I'm so high on the priority list.

The service is too slow, some medical professionals are not clear on their locations to where to go. However, I would recommend the food service area for their customer service!

Where else can you find free medical care for veterans? There is no VA Hospital in every city in Texas. Just be gracious we have a full-scale hospital in Houston.

Yes, the service is not what you expect but it's sufficient for me. I'm here only for annual check up on 1st and 2nd floor. When I got to 3rd, 4th and 5th floor to fulfill missing places on Google Maps, my jaw dropped.

It was an eye-opening experience to see what this facility has a lot more to offer. Those medical personnel are busy taking care of patients. They acted very different from staff on 1st floor.

Besides doctor visits and lab works, I always take time to shop at the store. It's like a commissary - tax free. I spend about $100 each time to make my trip gas.

I noticed they finally updated the parking lot. No one told me but I guessed the blue structure is to make way for a parking garage. I often park at lot N from entrance 71 because it's faster to get in.

Had an appointment with audiology for 7/16/2020. Arrived on time only to find it had been cancelled with no notice. I had been on myhealthvet on the 15th to make sure of time and day. 0700 on the 16th good to go i thought. They cancelled either late yesterday or overnight. If i could give no stars that is what they would get. This facility has lots of employees no longer doing much for Veterans using the Virus as an excuse not to serve.

Largest VA hospital in the world. Free valet parking to veterans.

If I could give this place a negative score I would. My Dad died in this dump. Because they didn't know what they were doing. And they are doing a worse job treating my wife. I wouldn't take one of my dogs here for treatment.

Dr. Love was good and his staff in his office where great as well. But expect to spend all day at medical just like being in the military again. Some staff are nice and others act like they don't want to be here and they are doing you a favor (Common area's, Blood work area, ID station). I have private insurance Blue Cross Blue shield of Texas. I was charged on my tax return for a visit i had that year no big deal. And the restrooms my god filthy but i have to blame some vets as well for that mess. And you wonder why people don't come to the VA. I haven't been back since and would prefer to go the private route. I would have gave 1 star but you really do have some people that care there. I just don't have the time and then you have to go through so much red tape ( i get and understand trying to wing out the people that don't really need help and also trying to save the government money).

My brother is in the hospital and the nursing care is horrible, he called for three hours on Sunday and two hours to day. He was having breathing difficulty due to having terminal cancer. He told me this morning he thought he was going to die because he could not breath

Overall I applaud the VA hospital. The majority of the nurses and doctors are awesome and very helpful.

Houston VA does a fantastic job of caring for me and my Agent Orange issues from Vietnam. I totally recommend this hospital for other veterans.

Horrible service. We waited an hour and a half to just talk to a nurse.

If I could give zero stars I would. The emergency room is by far the worst I ve ever experienced. The workers at the front desk are more concerned with joking with each other than the patients accommodation. Physicians seem to be extremely unengaged. This feels more like an urgent care rather than an emergency room. I drove 40+ minutes to sit in a waiting room for over an hour and still haven t been seen.

Phenomenal

Tha care my husband got in the MICU was horrible.The doctor didn't listen when told several times by several family members that my husband had a clamp over the artery in the right side of his neck.They put an IV in it any ways.Then proceded to check his eye on that side which stays dialated.Idiots is all I can say for these people.My dog is smarter and listens better than they do.If I could sue I would they let my husband die from their stupidity.The whole time he was in MICU doctors are rude wont tell you anything.Any info we got on mu husband was by over hearing the doctor talking to his "female" students about his condition.The people in MICU are rude and disrespectful of the patients and their families. If we had had more info on my husband's condition he might be here today not in a box.

An important institution with many talented and caring professionals which is unfortunately poorly managed. Some workers are stressed out from "cattle call" mentality of patient delivery. Medical documents are not properly managed either. A 90 second blood draw often takes an hour to over two and a half hours wait time. Parking fiasco is inexcusable. Health care delivery is inconsistent and ranges from excellent to having to endure medical students playing doctor and not acting professionally. The veteran client does not have a voice via an advisory committee. There is no health care manager for veteran advisory and advocacy. Complaints and patient abuse get ignored. Care is given without regard service connected issues. There is a deliberate agenda to ignore service connection to avoid claims. The hospital does not conduct periodic professional and admin committees that are published to the vet client population. For every 4 gracious persons, there is a fifth rude or unprofessional person. The facility is pretending that it can take on the current task but is obviously overwhelmed. The facade seems modern and progressive, but the reality is that the ability of the the Houston VA Hospital to deliver quality health care to veterans is sub par when compared to quality health care institutions at the medical center. The medical center should be measuring its ability to deliver health care against the VA, not the other way around. The bottom line is that it is not acceptable that the 99% cannot (will not) keep its commitment to the 1% who have served.

Mostly good, primary care Dr. Kirian good Doc. Lab is good, except for guy with glasses cannot draw blood. X RAY /MRI has lots of issues long wait times, lost paperwork. Endocrinology also has staff that need to be retrained in check in.

The VA was top notch during treatment of my father in law, a Navy WWII Veteran. Thanks to the many doctors and hospital staff

Personally I have been going to this VA for about 4 years. The Tomball VA is closer to my house, however I choose The Houston VA, the reason I choose it is because I always feel at home there and all. the people there are very nice and helpful.I go there about every 2-3 months for my appts. I have two Doctors. Dr.Love, is my General Dr. and Dr. Bishop is my Mental Healthy Dr. I feel really lucky to have them both as my Dr's. Usually my appts. are on time, however I always leave some wiggy room. I really wish we could all stop complaining and just get along just think of how many people they see every day, week and month. And some of us aren;t very nice or easy to get along with..
The reason for my post is because no matter where you go you might have to wait or maybe or you will be the lucky one and just go in and out.
Try to be Kind it will go a along way, just try it one day you might like it, and it will probably make you feel better.

ROBLES

I am extremely Pleased with my Care at Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston, TX.

Have had wonderful Doctors, PA's, Nurses, et al. Diagnostic is fantastic

Always an adventure coming here. Sometimes everything goes smoothly others everyone just as mad mound of fire ants

I've had the great opportunity to continue my traveling when I got out of the military. This is by far the WROST VA IN THE UNITED STATES. A new Veteran needed emergency Mental health services and the person acted like they did not understand and would not help. I hope he is ok

Long long wait times, especially during the holidays. Need more staff!!! If you have a medical degree please apply here! They need more doctors, psychologists and nurses that are from outside the VA. The ones here are decent but I moved to the Katy clinic for a reason!

just transferring from San Diego. DeBakey working. it would be good to order meds without the ER for one we are out of due to moving. my thanks to them. San Diego has been excellent.

I am a veteran of the US Army and have been assigned to the Michael E DeBakey VA Medical Center for care over the past 4 years now. It is such an unproffessional hospital that there is too much in my experiences to explaine in this rating!

Staff is rude and yells at veterans, and they make the already stressful experience of the hospital visits/appointments even worse.

staff is nice but when i call, it takes 20 plus minutes for someone to answer and when they do, they act like they can't hear you and hang up. now here i am calling again having to wait for 20 plus minutes again!

WORST HOSPITAL/MEDICAL FACILITY/BUSINESS EVER!! These poor men and women have to wait ALLLLL DAY to be seen by a doctor! ALL DAY!! The staff is beyond RUDE, disrespectful, they mix up records, and overdose patients. If ANY veteran gets upset, for waiting all day with sickness and disabilities, they're arrested! Our Veterans! The people who fought for us are being treated TERRIBLY here!!

The service, treatment and cleanliness, or lack there of, are ATROCIOUS!! You should be ashamed of yourselves and ask WHY noooo other hospital or doctor's office works this way?! Michael DeBakey is probably rolling over in his grave right now that his name is associated with this kind of service.

Lastly, there's no parking and they CHARGE for vallet! These are sick, elderly, men and women! Smh.. such a disgrace! Criminal, negligence, disrespect, disgust and inhumane describes this place. Ridiculous.

My husband has an appointment at 3pm, it is now 430pm and still haven't seen the doctor.

I understand the precautions of COVID although when a veteran explains they are in severe pain due to a service connected injury, they drag their feet!

Not bad for a government agency. Full of bureaucratic inefficiency and red tape, horrible administration. Actually clinical workers such as nurses, doctors and pharmacists are amazing!

My only thing is that the nurses, PA, staff none of them seem to give a dam. Horrible attitudes and the medical team seems to care more about the cheapest route then doing the right thing. I realize they are understaffed, under budgeted and over worked. The average wait time is three hours past your appointment time.

Was late to my appointment and as still seen quickly!

All of the doctors and nurses are great. Also the clerks they are always so friendly and helpful. But the police chief, not much good could be said about him. I haven't written him two letters to ask him out of the parking lots for our patients. He refuses to reply to me and it appears no effort has been done to get the parking spaces back to the patients. I will continue the fight all the way to Washington if need be.

Maybe if more people thanked God, there would be less bureaucracy.

Pleasant and knowledgeable. Made me more comfortable than any other hospital I've ever been to

I am currently in the hospital here absolutely terrible. Had a total knee replacement. Last night i had to get on and off the bed pan 2 hrs after surgery by myself and when i got me sheets wet with urine and strip my bed placing them on the floor the nurse scolded me like a child for placing them on the floor.
Never mentioning that they did not respond to my call bell. Have been nauseated since Recover have told them what works for me which is ignored. Asked for ginger ale and it took 20 hrs for them to get me some. I am on the 5th floor and Dr Green of ortho is my doctor. Just 1hr ago they bought me bedside commode just left the room. So i got up by myself to go to the bath room less the 24hrs after knee replacement. And i will not go into the atitude of the staff. Never have surgery at the VA. By the way have i disclosed that i grad from UT and was a nurse for 30 yrs.

Irritating for one. They had me use Tri West because they couldn't get me in. And then I go for my appointment and then was told that they wouldn't pay for the particular appointment that I needed, even though they were the ones that sent me to a doctor outside of the VA network. I am still calling trying to be seen and I can't ever get a response. Its annoying how they do this crap. I have now been waiting 6 months for an appointment that takes 20 minutes.

The fact that it's free is awesome to me! They see hundreds of people daily; that's 100s of smiles, sicknesses, attitudes, and motivational conversations with people. Yet they do their best to keep that smile on our/their faces. If you believe something could be changed for better, there's drop boxes and I'm pretty sure they're always accepting applications. The place is FULL of vets (to include the people behind each desk and wall,) so it gives me more reason to smile because I'm surrounded by great people. While waiting, talk to someone nearby and joke or hear/share what y'all are going through. Either of you might be able to give advice to one another. All-in-all, thank you all for having patience with patients... Yes I had to say that cheesy joke.

The outdoor pharmacy is a joke. Three people sitting around doing nothing and it takes 1 and 1/2 hours to pick up a prescription that was filled hours earlier. Pathetic

It is well understood that waiting is part of the system, even being sent home after waiting all day and being rescheduled but the latest parking solution is a bust.

The "patient" parking lot fills up fast and even though abundant parking places can be seen in all lots they are restricted from the Veterans and Tow Away threats assigned as well as chained gates etc. used to block and protect those parking places.

I ended up driving to the Smith Tower on Fannin and parking in their garage [Paid] and walking back only to wait and wait and finally have to leave however in the walk there and back noticed many empty parking places down from the Veteran assigned parking, even some filled up with Metro Vans.

The parking situation has always been a major problem but it was made far worse than in past years with the "New Improvements''.

I don't go there unless I am notified I have to by order of the VA but can say the people who take blood at the lab are pros as are a few of the doctors I have been seen by.. Simply put on the patient side of things there are just too many people going there with too few people to see them.

The parking problem is separate but a major contributing problem to much of the operation there. In the past they have done what they could with pick up shuttles and I didn't mind parking way out from the main building where parking could usually be found since it was so far from the location everyone is scheduled to appear but now that option is gone and one can get caught in a full parking lot right outside the VA facility and not even get out of there for a half hour if you get stuck behind people riding around and around in circles looking for a parking place and then wait on someone who appears to be leaving, it happened to me twice and I'm not going back for the 3rd strike until that parking problem is remedied, why so many reserved parking places not being used???

Why are City vehicles parked there on the property in numbers??? Why can't veterans get a damn parking place??? The aggravation from visiting there is immeasurable.. I find it less stressful to have my own doctors and lab work paid by myself to avoid that place completely.

Very poor quality employees and/or volunteers. Nice doctors but seem to be understaffed. Takes a while to get a first appointment and even longer for a follow-up. Parking is atrocious. Nice facility just poorly/ hardly ran. I was fed up with it last year and decided to self treat, now I need medical attention and I see there's no improvements. Oh well, I've lived a good life.

Plastics (Hand doctor) told me instead of fixing my hand that was service connected I had another one I could use. That is why we have two basically we come with a backup. I went to a civilian Dr and had sergury and now its repaired not perfect but better.