slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

This is a local story, but I hope to believe that others are following suit across the nation.

By Steve Province

Among America's greatest strengths are the men and women who put their lives on the line to defend our country. From the 18-year old high school graduate who just enlisted, to all veterans who depend on the Department of Veteran's Affairs (VA) for health care and benefits, we have an obligation to serve those who serve us.

In 2014, Congress passed by overwhelming v**es, the Veteran's Access, Choice and Accountability Act to solve some of the well-publicized challenges that veterans had been experiencing in accessing Veteran's Affair health-care services. Commonly referred to as the Veteran's Choice Program, it was designed to enable eligible veterans to receive primary care, inpatient and outpatient specialty care and mental-health care from non-VA health-care providers. The idea was to help solve the health-care access challenge by giving our veterans more options for their care.

Unfortunately, this program...viewed with great promise by those who have face unacceptable waiting times for needed medical care...hasn't quite worked as intended. Access-related issues continue for too many veterans.

Providence Healthcare Network, part of Ascension, the nation's largest nonprofit health system, has over 200 veterans who continue to serve our community as part of TEAMPROVIDENCE. We understand that many of them also experience these struggles first-hand. As a veteran myself, I am honored to have had the opportunity to serve my country in the U.S. Navy. I served alongside many brave men and women who made personal sacrifices in order to defend and protect our nation. I am grateful to those who made that sacrifice and to those who continue to make that sacrifice today, affording us freedom, security and democracy.

As both a hospital administrator and 10-year disabled veteran, I understand the importance of receiving quality, expert health care and the frustrations many veterans experience as they are unable to access-care in a timely manner. I am proud to say Providence, along with more than 2,000 Ascension sites of care, is stepping up to help ensure that service members, veterans and their families can connect to resources that enhance their well-being.

Why are we getting involved? Caring for our nation's veterans is one of the most important things we can do. Our mission calls us to provide compassionate, personalized care for all with special attention to the poor and vulnerable. Right now, no population is more vulnerable and more deserving of our compassion and support than our nation's veterans.

Our veterans deserve the best care we can offer and that's not the sole responsibility of just the VA system...it's the responsibility of all caregivers, whether government or private, for profit or nonprofit. Through the Veteran's Choice Program, we can work together to expand the number of health care options for our nation's veterans, ensuring more timely access to high-quality care.

To help ensure the most effective service on a sustained basis, Ascension has organized a system-wide monitoring effort that features a help line to quickly identify and address any access issues that may arise and share best practices across our health system and with the VA.

Providence is purposefully entering into a complex program with significant challenges. But the men and women who have sacrificed so much for us deserve access to high-quality health care. Working together, we have every confidence that our Veteran's Choice public-private partnership will advance care for our military veterans and ultimately provide ideas on how to improve the delivery of health care in the general population as well.
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Steve Province is the chief operating officer of Providence Healthcare Network and a veteran of the U.S. Navy.

lpnmajor Loc: Arkansas

Improvise, adapt and overcome. Even the Navy gets it right sometimes. ;) :lol:

hprinze Loc: Central Florida

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I have been in the VA medical care foe over 15 years and have received a LOT of care. I grade them as 110% +

I have one episode with the Veteran's Choice List.

I grade them as less than zero, a bunch of worthless, non caring government employees.

slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

My experience with the VA is the same as yours...excellent. The fact that there are areas of the country still lacking in proper health care for veterans remains in need of addressing. Programs such as Veteran's Choice are, at least, attempting to do so.

lpnmajor Loc: Arkansas

If one lives within easy driving distance of a VA facility, one can receive fairly timely and excellent care. The medical staff are always top notch. The distance is the problem. If one lives in a rural area, or anywhere not within easy driving distance, the experiences are different, as are the experiences at different facilities in different States.

Here in AR, budget cuts caused the VA satellite facilities to close, leaving us with one VA hospital for the entire State. Unless one comes in through the ER, one will wait at least 5 weeks for an appointment. This is one of the facilities caught doctoring waiting lists BTW - for which no terminations have occurred.

Recently, one of the alternative facilities terminated it's contract with the VA, as the VA was VERY slow in paying and the VA has cut the reimbursement rate. What is remarkable, is that this facility was 15 miles from the VA hospital, which makes me wonder why they were given a contract in the first place.

lindajoy Loc: right here with you....

Not familiar with the organization referenced here..Yet am familiar with the shoddy care many Vets receive or better put, do not receive, along with the tremendous delays they create and lack of patient care..Any organization that is trying to help is a help, and much needed..

The problem with the VA is it a "government sponsored"affiliate..

Action about the delays in Health care etc only take place when there is bad publicity over what is not happening at the VA..Promises are made, just as you reference her, only to have it all fall by the wayside when the "story" has run its course in publicity, period...

Likewise some get excellent care and do not experience the long delays, lack of care, or fighting for the basic rights you were told you have when enlisting, etc..Truly dependent on "where you live" and how the facility is run makes or breaks the standard in care..It should not....While they are supposed to do certain things to ensure quick service without months of delays if not years, they fall short in attaining this very basic requirement..

I could write a book on how much I detest what happens to our Vet when coming back after serving and what this damn government doesn't do for them after they risked their lives...I won't, I'm in too good a mood so I'll simply say, to your organization a :thumbup: :thumbup: and to the government in what they do not follow through with and do to our Vets in the course of it all, :thumbdown: :thumbdown:

hprinze Loc: Central Florida

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To clarify, Veteran's Choice List is not part of the VA.
It is contracts with the govt to set up vets with private providers when necessary

boatbob2

I am a 100% disabled Vietnam Vet,I have had GREAT care from the VA,I had 2 MAJOR operations,Throat Cancer,caused by agent orange,I think the problem,is,that the VA is overwhelmed,by the number of disabled veterans,threreby having you,wait for appointments.Im thinking some of the treatments,could be outsourced to civilian hospitals. that actually work.

slowranch

As a 70% A.O. vet I have found the VA in Oklahoma city great, when the choice program came out I signed up as a 120mile round trip was very trying on me. Unfortunately all it did was add another layer of paper work and trips to the main hospital, for scripts each time the doc issued one. The problem was doctor staff not knowing the VA s love of the right paper work. I will use choice later when they get the docs paper system better.
On a side note I have been in line at OKCVA when a clearly wounded recent GI had been given head of the line privilege by a bunch of us old farts there for our viagra, honor to the youth of today.

slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

Old farts are known for class acts such as 'head of the line privilege' at many a VA center.:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

I am total agreement with your comments, Boatbob2.:wink: :thumbup:

Louie27 Loc: Peoria, AZ

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:
Great post Linda. I have been going to the Phoenix VA hospital since 1999 and have had great treatment in the system. My doctor was the first to expose the short coming of the VA in Phoenix. Since the problem was brought to every ones attention the care I have been receiving has deteriorated. I used to be able to get an eye appointment approx. 30 after calling. I applied for a new eye exam the first of Jan. and now have a appointment the last of April, and that is at an outside source. They no longer have an in house eye clinic. When trying to contact my doctor, the calls are routed through the main switchboard. Then it takes at least two or three days to here from his staff. When the nurse calls and leaves a message to call at her number the call is redirected. Where is the good health care I once received?