thedrifter
10-07-08, 09:19 AM
Active Duty Taking Over VA Hospitals?
Robert F. Sawallesh
05 October 2008
http://www.pentagonmaverick.com/
When wounded, injured and patients with diseases started coming into the stateside military medical system from Iraq and Afghanistan the Pentagon no doubt realized that they were unprepared because of the closure and downsizing of Army, Navy and Air Force hospitals.
Casualty statistics from the wars are at http://siadapp.dmdc.osd.mil/personnel/CASUALTY/castop.htm. See first paragraph of the MOAA 2007 executive summary at http://www.senate.gov/~veterans/public/index.cfm?pageid=16&release_id=11397&sub_release_id=11407&view=all.
What was the Pentagon's panic solution due to lack of military hospitals? Answer: Send the active duty wounded to VA hospitals for treatment. VA hospitals were already under funded and under staffed plus out of date. For background information see http://www.health.mil/?MID=9493-59425-2056-6, http://www.tricare.mil/ and http://www1.va.gov/health/index.asp.
No doubt millions of dollars were pumped into VA hospitals for modernization in order to care for the active duty patients from the War on Terror. Did this modernization at VA hospitals wards and facilities happen overnight and did the two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq stop while the Pentagon brainstormed about where to send the waves of increasing casualties?
One VA hospital was built in 1932 [now 76 years old] and was just recently "rebuilt" based on a 2005 article. See http://www.tbnweekly.com/content_articles/012506_smb-05.txt.
What is the relationship between the Pentagon and the US Department of Veterans Affairs insofar as active duty wounded and injured going to VA hospitals? Look at the leadership in the VA and the Pentagon.
The Secretary of the VA (Lieutenant General James Peake, M.D., US Army, Retired) is at http://www1.va.gov/opa/bios/biography.asp?id=71 and the Under Secretary of the VA for Health (Brig. Gen. Michael J. Kussman, M.D., US Army, Retired) is at http://www1.va.gov/opa/bios/biography.asp?id=53. Assistant Secretary for Health Affairs in the Pentagon is Dr. S. Ward Casscells, MD at http://www.health.mil/bioDetail.aspx?ID=1
Because of the above leadership, the communications between the Pentagon senior leadership and the VA senior leadership is probably quite good regarding transferring active duty patients from military hospitals to VA hospitals. See http://www1.va.gov/opa/bios/index.asp and http://www.defenselink.mil/osd/topleaders.aspx.
The White House, US Congress and the Pentagon made a big mistake by implementing TRICARE which doomed traditional military hospitals. But at least TRICARE made a lot of medical contractors rich such as HUMANA. Go to http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=92913&p=irol-reports and search TRICARE in the annual reports.
Who suffered because of the lack of new and modern Army, Navy and Air Force hospitals? Answer: The Active Duty, National Guard and Reserves and their families.
Will McCain or Obama address the sad state of the Pentagon's military hospitals or just veterans' health care in their debates and speeches? Their web sites are at http://www.johnmccain.com/ and http://www.barackobama.com/index.php. See Commission on Presidential Debates at http://www.debates.org/ for schedule of the debates.
What is it like to be the wife of a seriously inured soldier? Follow an Army wife's daily blog on her husband who was injured in Afghanistan. Go to http://www.lebanon-express.com/articles/2008/02/20/news/local/local01noss.txt and http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/scottnoss.
Today widows and wives of WW II, Korean War, Vietnam War, Gulf War and no doubt the War on Terror are volunteering in VA and military hospitals.
In the same VA and military hospitals you have the wives and mothers serving as caregivers for their husbands, sons and daughters who have been seriously wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan and will be in the hospitals for months if not over a year. See http://www.militarywidows.org/ and https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/content/view/857/895/.
Are the wives and mothers of the seriously wounded and injured active duty afraid that once their loved one becomes medically retired he or she will just become a "number in the VA?" What happens if there is a divorce or the caregiver dies?
Can the wounded and injured and their families trust the Pentagon, US Congress and the White House for continued care for the next 20, 40 and 60 years? That is, up to 2068 and beyond. Based on past history the answer is no. Just ask a military retiree about their promised life time military medical care.
We might have had enough military hospitals today if the military associations did not jump in bed with TRICARE and then start "sponsoring" TRICARE insurance. See http://www.moaainsurance.com/ and http://www.usba.com/TRICARE/intro-tricare.asp for example.
Are the presidents of the military associations fighting for new military hospitals or are they lobbying for more money for VA hospitals? No doubt the presidents of veterans associations would like to see as much money as possible go into VA hospitals. Perhaps the more Congressional dollars budgeted for military hospitals means less dollars for VA hospitals.
So how do you get presidents of veterans associations to support new military hospitals? I am sure that the presidents of veterans and military associations do not have to make deals with each other behind closed doors as they lobby the US Congress. What do you think?
Go to the following association web sites and see if there is a call for new Army, Navy and Air Force hospitals. See http://www.moaa.org/, http://www.ausa.org/Pages/default.aspx, http://www.navyleague.org/, http://www.trea.org/, http://www.legion.org/homepage.php, http://www.vfw.org/, http://www.afa.org/, http://www.amvets.org/, http://www.uscgcpoa.org/, http://www.mcleague.com/mdp/index.php, http://www.pva.org/site/PageServer and http://www.dav.org/.
With military liaison officers and NCOs in uniform and active duty patients in VA hospitals what do the veterans think about the situation? This statement from a veteran patient at a VA hospital was recently relayed to me: "The active duty are taking over the VA hospitals."
There is no doubt that the VA hospitals came to the rescue of the Pentagon...and the VA deserves a heroes medal. Why are McCain and Obama so silent on the need for new Pentagon Army, Navy and Air Force hospitals? See http://www.pentagonmaverick.com/Articles-macdill_hosp.html.
Ellie
Robert F. Sawallesh
05 October 2008
http://www.pentagonmaverick.com/
When wounded, injured and patients with diseases started coming into the stateside military medical system from Iraq and Afghanistan the Pentagon no doubt realized that they were unprepared because of the closure and downsizing of Army, Navy and Air Force hospitals.
Casualty statistics from the wars are at http://siadapp.dmdc.osd.mil/personnel/CASUALTY/castop.htm. See first paragraph of the MOAA 2007 executive summary at http://www.senate.gov/~veterans/public/index.cfm?pageid=16&release_id=11397&sub_release_id=11407&view=all.
What was the Pentagon's panic solution due to lack of military hospitals? Answer: Send the active duty wounded to VA hospitals for treatment. VA hospitals were already under funded and under staffed plus out of date. For background information see http://www.health.mil/?MID=9493-59425-2056-6, http://www.tricare.mil/ and http://www1.va.gov/health/index.asp.
No doubt millions of dollars were pumped into VA hospitals for modernization in order to care for the active duty patients from the War on Terror. Did this modernization at VA hospitals wards and facilities happen overnight and did the two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq stop while the Pentagon brainstormed about where to send the waves of increasing casualties?
One VA hospital was built in 1932 [now 76 years old] and was just recently "rebuilt" based on a 2005 article. See http://www.tbnweekly.com/content_articles/012506_smb-05.txt.
What is the relationship between the Pentagon and the US Department of Veterans Affairs insofar as active duty wounded and injured going to VA hospitals? Look at the leadership in the VA and the Pentagon.
The Secretary of the VA (Lieutenant General James Peake, M.D., US Army, Retired) is at http://www1.va.gov/opa/bios/biography.asp?id=71 and the Under Secretary of the VA for Health (Brig. Gen. Michael J. Kussman, M.D., US Army, Retired) is at http://www1.va.gov/opa/bios/biography.asp?id=53. Assistant Secretary for Health Affairs in the Pentagon is Dr. S. Ward Casscells, MD at http://www.health.mil/bioDetail.aspx?ID=1
Because of the above leadership, the communications between the Pentagon senior leadership and the VA senior leadership is probably quite good regarding transferring active duty patients from military hospitals to VA hospitals. See http://www1.va.gov/opa/bios/index.asp and http://www.defenselink.mil/osd/topleaders.aspx.
The White House, US Congress and the Pentagon made a big mistake by implementing TRICARE which doomed traditional military hospitals. But at least TRICARE made a lot of medical contractors rich such as HUMANA. Go to http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=92913&p=irol-reports and search TRICARE in the annual reports.
Who suffered because of the lack of new and modern Army, Navy and Air Force hospitals? Answer: The Active Duty, National Guard and Reserves and their families.
Will McCain or Obama address the sad state of the Pentagon's military hospitals or just veterans' health care in their debates and speeches? Their web sites are at http://www.johnmccain.com/ and http://www.barackobama.com/index.php. See Commission on Presidential Debates at http://www.debates.org/ for schedule of the debates.
What is it like to be the wife of a seriously inured soldier? Follow an Army wife's daily blog on her husband who was injured in Afghanistan. Go to http://www.lebanon-express.com/articles/2008/02/20/news/local/local01noss.txt and http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/scottnoss.
Today widows and wives of WW II, Korean War, Vietnam War, Gulf War and no doubt the War on Terror are volunteering in VA and military hospitals.
In the same VA and military hospitals you have the wives and mothers serving as caregivers for their husbands, sons and daughters who have been seriously wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan and will be in the hospitals for months if not over a year. See http://www.militarywidows.org/ and https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/content/view/857/895/.
Are the wives and mothers of the seriously wounded and injured active duty afraid that once their loved one becomes medically retired he or she will just become a "number in the VA?" What happens if there is a divorce or the caregiver dies?
Can the wounded and injured and their families trust the Pentagon, US Congress and the White House for continued care for the next 20, 40 and 60 years? That is, up to 2068 and beyond. Based on past history the answer is no. Just ask a military retiree about their promised life time military medical care.
We might have had enough military hospitals today if the military associations did not jump in bed with TRICARE and then start "sponsoring" TRICARE insurance. See http://www.moaainsurance.com/ and http://www.usba.com/TRICARE/intro-tricare.asp for example.
Are the presidents of the military associations fighting for new military hospitals or are they lobbying for more money for VA hospitals? No doubt the presidents of veterans associations would like to see as much money as possible go into VA hospitals. Perhaps the more Congressional dollars budgeted for military hospitals means less dollars for VA hospitals.
So how do you get presidents of veterans associations to support new military hospitals? I am sure that the presidents of veterans and military associations do not have to make deals with each other behind closed doors as they lobby the US Congress. What do you think?
Go to the following association web sites and see if there is a call for new Army, Navy and Air Force hospitals. See http://www.moaa.org/, http://www.ausa.org/Pages/default.aspx, http://www.navyleague.org/, http://www.trea.org/, http://www.legion.org/homepage.php, http://www.vfw.org/, http://www.afa.org/, http://www.amvets.org/, http://www.uscgcpoa.org/, http://www.mcleague.com/mdp/index.php, http://www.pva.org/site/PageServer and http://www.dav.org/.
With military liaison officers and NCOs in uniform and active duty patients in VA hospitals what do the veterans think about the situation? This statement from a veteran patient at a VA hospital was recently relayed to me: "The active duty are taking over the VA hospitals."
There is no doubt that the VA hospitals came to the rescue of the Pentagon...and the VA deserves a heroes medal. Why are McCain and Obama so silent on the need for new Pentagon Army, Navy and Air Force hospitals? See http://www.pentagonmaverick.com/Articles-macdill_hosp.html.
Ellie