The failings of the Veterans Administration

For many years I have stated with certainty that the quality of the healthcare provided by the Veterans Administration. Not at the moment. There have been changes at the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center and they are not changes for the better. Let's begin with the primary care clinic where my care is supposed to be provided by the "Silver Team 2C". I will not name the attending physician here.

I sent a secure message to that healthcare professional on March 10, 2022. I informed the doctor that I was out of one medication and unable to get a refill on the VA's website. I also reported that I was out of three other medications and they no longer appeared on the list of drugs prescribed for me. I did not get a response.

I went to the Primary Care Clinic a couple of weeks later as a same-day walk-in patient to try to deal with the medication problems. I got some of the meds. I did not get to see the doctor as they were "too busy."

The problems continued and I sent another secure message to the attending physician on April 19, 2022. Here is the text of that message. I have redacted the names of the medications:

As of today, I have yet to receive a response. I sent another message today and asked if I should be contacting someone else.

I got something in the mail from the VA telling me I needed to call and schedule an appointment with the Silver Team 2C for a follow-up visit. I called the VA today. I was offered the choice of a video appointment or an in-person appointment. I asked for an in-person appointment and was told "I'm sorry but there are no openings in that clinic between now and the end of August. The appointment setter told me she would send the clinic a message to contact me to set up an appointment. I will not be holding my breath waiting for a response.

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I have again been dealing with a problem with a bacterial infection that began beneath my left thumbnail. In prior years, when this happened I could go to the Primary Care Clinic on a walk-in same-day basis and they had a treatment room. They would have a hand specialist come down and do an IND right then and there. Now, changes have been made. The treatment room has been shut down. I had to go to the Emergency Room to get the problem treated. It took multiple ER visits before the problem was resolved. Instead of my primary care physician following up my care, I saw a different doctor every time. Thankfully the last doctor I saw knew their stuff and fixed the problem.

The final indignity came when I was scheduled to spend Frday, Saturday and Sunday nights as an inpatient to start me on a new medication. I had a video meeting with the physician (a cardiologist) who reminded me several times that I needed to get their early on Friday. "You need to be early so they can give you two doses on Friday to make sure we can get you out on Monday morning. I needed to be at work on Monday.

I got there early. I went to the office to be admitted and get my first dose of this new medication. To my suprise and horror, that same doctor who had reminded me to be early had not yet written the orders to admit me as an inpatient and for my treatment. I sat there twiddlig my thumbs for an hour. Then without being noticed, I walked out and left. 30 minutes later that office called me and asked where I'd gone. I told them I was tired of waiting and I left. They urged me to come back and I declined.

I will call cardiology to reschedule that medication admission AFTER my problem with prescriptions and obtaining care from the Primary Care Clinic is resolved.

I used to think the medical care at the VA was great. I was wrong. It sucks.