New Post has been published on Uncle Sams Misguided Children
New Post has been published on http://misguidedchildren.com/health-human-services/2014/07/breaking-news-veteran-receives-va-appointment-two-years-after-he-died/24977
Breaking News: Veteran receives VA appointment two years after he died
Doug Chase died two years before receiving approval to be treated by the VA
ACTON, MASS – On a warm June day Suzanne Chase went to check her mailbox. In it she found a letter from the VA hospital in Bedford, Massachusetts, stating that her husband Doug, was approved to schedule an appointment with a primary care physician at the Bedford clinic. The only problem was that Doug died two years earlier.
The nightmare for the Chases began in 2011, when Doug, a Vietnam veteran, was diagnosed with a brain tumor. At the time, Doug was having to travel to Boston for treatment. The ambulance rides were hard on Doug, so his wife Suzanne tried to move his medical care to the VA facility in Bedford in 2012, according to WBZ, CBS Boston.
The couple heard nothing for four months, then Doug succumbed to his illness and died. A few weeks ago, Suzanne received a letter from the Bedford VA stating that he was approved to make an appointment with one of their doctors.
“It was addressed to my husband and I opened it. I was in complete disbelief,” Suzanne told CBS Boston Chief Correspondent Joe Shortsleeve. Ironically, the letter closed with the following statement:
“We are committed to providing primary care in a timely manner and would greatly appreciate a prompt response.”
That is what can best be described as a slap in the face. It is safe to say that Suzanne was flabbergasted. What surprised Suzanne the most was that the VA had to have known that her husband had died, because she applied for burial benefits through the VA and was denied. The reason for her denial: Doug was not treated at a VA facility. Suzanne wrote a letter of her own to the VA, but never received a response. When CBS Boston attempted to contact the VA they received the following statement:
“We regret any distress our actions caused to the Veteran’s widow and family.
“At the Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, our most important mission is to provide the high quality health care and benefits Veterans have earned and deserve – where and when they need it.
“Thank you for bringing this regrettable issue to our attention. We apologize for our error and any difficulties this has caused you. We will examine our process, do what we can to fix it, and institute measures to prevent this from happening again.
“We are reviewing this Veteran’s case; however, we require a Release of Information to allow us to comment on the specifics of his case.
“As part of the corrective actions taken to address scheduling issues, VA launched the Accelerating Access to Care Initiative, a nationwide program to ensure timely access to care. VA has identified Veterans across the system experiencing waits that do not meet Veterans’ expectations for timeliness. VA has been contacting and scheduling Veterans who are waiting for care. We regret causing any pain in this effort.
“The Acting Director called the Veteran’s widow to apologize. We were able to leave a voicemail with the Director’s phone number. The Acting Director will call the Veteran’s widow again tomorrow. We want to be sure that she is, as well as other Veterans and their family members are, treated with dignity and respect.”
I Team: Acton Vet finally gets VA doctor’s appointment – 2 years after he died
My parents would call this a case of the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing. The truth is that while neither hand knew what the other one did, both of them refuse to ‘fess-up.’ It is sad to think that the VA, which exists to help those who sacrificed for the defense of this nation, is offering such horrid care. Since this mess was brought to light with the allegations of corruption at the Phoenix VA, the government has spent the last several months chasing its own tail to cover up this mess.
At this point there is very little that can be done for the widow of Doug Chase. Suzanne chase has not mentioned anything beyond writing her letter to the VA. The problem is that the VA will never own up to its mistake. I have never understood the policy of organizations not owning up to their mistakes, especially when they were so blatantly obvious. More than likely, Suzanne will receive some letter from the VA offering their condolences and promising to ensure that this never happens again. This does little to solve Suzanne’s issue. Given this administration, what else could she expect?
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