Has the VA been reformed yet? Does sound like it has...
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Extremely disappointed in the Ashville VA. They’re slow as hell, backed up for two months, short staffed. Husband needs surgery or could possibly lose his foot, but only one qualified surgeon there and he’s under water. I thought this would be better, but it’s still bad there, not to mention it’s smack dab sitting in a liberal shithole
Community Care is the way to go if he qualifies.....
Time delays, urgency, distance to VAMC from your home all factor in to that. There are a ton of 'in-network' providers who accept VA as long as the VA sends the referral. It's going to be the new way of doing business in the VA future. I think Doug's ultimate plan is to basically do away with brick and mortar VAs and just make them an administrative hub who refers people out into the community.
The VA will not volunteer that information. You have to already know about it and make them do their job. Their job is to keep you coming to their facilities so they can satisfy their own metrics, most people don't know they have car Community Care options that did not exist just 2 years ago.
Doug Collins is doing a good job and doing what he can, but realize the VA is the largest part of the DOD budget. Lots of unions, laundering, deeply embedded operatives. I can tell you for 100% certainly that the VA IS the Resistance® They resist Doug at every avenue. They still haven't taken down all of their LGBT stuff from their website despite the DOD directive AND Doug personally instructions to do so several times that I know of.
I am in a back and forth with his personal assistant right now about this very thing.
Doug has great plans and a great outlook, but the VA is an intentionally convoluted Leviathan with intentional traps, pitfalls and hang-ups the entire way
Because I got so pissed off, I vibe coded an entire counter-VA website called Veterans Command Console vcc(dot)vet that helps smooth other veterans' arduous journey through the system.
Doug is the only VA Director in recent memory who is actually trying to clean it up. Everyone else was just a gate keeper until he came along.
I am getting great care and the nurses and docs are good to me-TBS, I had to fire one doc for being a dick-my present doc is human! Being 80 and subject to 90% disability, I am in the right place.
That's excellent! What VA is that?
Denver VA hospital.. The building was a scandle, the staff is great!!
I used to go to Denver VA back in the early to mid 2000s. They used to my favorite hospital, civilian or military. They had great staff, they were the model for efficiency. They were at one point the most efficient hospital in the U.S. Then came Obama.......
Denver and Ann Arbor are (were) great...... I've been having to deal with Atlanta VA for the past decade. Stark difference. Bad news. Don't expect to get better when you walk in those doors.
I hit 60% disability in January and was immediately dropped by 0bamacare (I was unemployed), and had to go to the VA. That's ok with me, but the VA won't do anything for you until you have been "vested" into your local clinic/hospital. In my case they told me it would take up to 3 months before I could see a doctor since they are so short. Well - what was I supposed to do in the mean time with no insurance. I have meds I require.
I saw a tweet from VARapidResponse on the good stuff Doug was doing so I responded with info on what I was going through - and figured it would go nowhere. They responded that day, set me up with the North Texas VA HQ, who called me and wanted to find out what was going on. I got an appointment the next week. I told the guy about the wait time, my needs, and asked him why the hell I couldn't go to a local doctor until I got into the VA. He said you can't see community care, or go to urgent care/ER until you're vested. I'm hoping that gets fixed - or they get more doctors/PAs/NPs. It's funny - when I got to 60% the benefits page didn't say I had to wait to be vested - it said I get full VA healthcare. I even get dental because of service-connected issues (which of course they are sending me to community care because we have one dentist at my clinic).
I will say I told the VA and Obamacare I would NOT drop them until I vested in the VA, and that technically until that happened I didn't have healthcare. They had no choice but to agree. I bet that gets fixed too, since Obamacare will probably bill the VA (kek).
I'm really liking the RapidResponse accounts - they actually respond!
I went from 50% bservice-connected to 100% permanent and total disability with the help of a CA law firm... it only took about 2.5 years, but the bump in disability pay has been a blessing, allowing me to buy a modest condo in FL and have some $$ left over at the end of the month.
My VA podiatrist was so good to me, I sent her a big bouquet of flowers ! I've noticed lately I cannot make an appointment on the VA website, but am instructed to call first. I agree that community care is the way of the future.
I recently saw a VA dermatologist about a suspicious growth on the left earlobe. Sample was taken, sent to VA lab, and confirmed as skin cancer. Referred to a civilian specialist for removal - removed a chunk of earlobe but reconstructed quite skillfully - can't even tell now. Better yet, he was only 3 miles from my home... VA clinic is 19.5 miles away! Easy peasy. Can't say it was "fun" but it sure was more convenient.
I like to give credit where due. For now, I'm pretty satisfied with what I've got. Your mileage may vary.