Phoenix VA Fox News

Phoenix VA Rebukes Fox News Tucker Carlson Story, Kind Of

Phoenix VA Fox News

The team at Phoenix VA attempted to punk Fox New host Tucker Carlson by covertly releasing audio recordings of an interview not included in the Fox story.

While those segments were not included in the TV piece, they do not necessarily improve the optics. Instead, some of the clips merely support the position that Phoenix VA is still one of the worst rated in the country.

And, the language in the release seems to play on any possible naivety of viewers who might believe Fox News could play all the segments listed, which would be impossible for shorter news stories with multiple interviewers and perspectives to include.

But even if Fox did so, the end picture would not be any better. Or, would it? Why did they try to punk Fox News and Tucker Carlson? Or was this a punk fail?

WATCH: Phoenix VA Still A Failure

[NOTE: If you have problems with the video, move the player bar to the end of the interview and then move it back to the beginning of the interview to make it work.]

Summary Of Fox News Story On Tucker Carlson

Last Thursday, Tucker Carlson did a segment highlighting a lack of progress reforming the wait time scandal and related whistleblower retaliation scandals at the facility.

Such problems have clearly persisted despite injections of over $100 million in funding and widespread press coverage.

Since the scandal first surfaced in 2014, some veterans still die without care and the wait times continue to be a problem. One of the newest whistleblowers has had his employment curtailed in response to his whistleblowing.

What is new after hundreds of millions in additional funding?

On film in the Fox News segments, the Phoenix VA director RimaAnn Nelson asserts she knew nothing of the present whistleblower scandal and refused to answer questions about how well the agency is doing on a 1 to 10 scale of improvement.

Fox News reporter Will Carr pressed Nelson about her history at St. Louis VA involving a massive scandal there a few years ago when she ran that facility. She blamed bad press back then on the headlines of reporters.

Carr also highlighted emails from a whistleblower that kept her informed of the retaliation she asserted she knew nothing about. In the segment aired by Tucker Carlson, Fox included emails from the whistleblowering indicating Nelson did know about the retaliation matter but lied to Fox about it.

Phoenix VA Press Release

On Friday, the next day, Phoenix VA issued a response highlighting Fox News did not play every clip:

Phoenix VA publishes full responses from director’s Fox-TV interview – Fox-TV reporter Will Carr presented a story on the Phoenix VA Health Care System on the Tucker Carlson Tonight show on Feb. 5, 2017. The story contained very little of the information from the interview, so in an effort to provide Veterans with transparency, the director has released the audio files from the rest of the interview.”

There is a whole lot of deception in the statement by implication.

First, you need to know a little about the background. Will Carr tried to interview Nelson when he first shot the segments with whistleblowers and veterans while in Phoenix but she canceled the interview at the last second. Nelson’s team reconsidered and then agreed to the segment after the shots with everyone else had occurred.

Second, how self-absorbed is VA to state very little of the information was included in the interview? Fox News ran two segments on air and then a long article about the interview, “‘Vets continue to die’: Phoenix hospital at center of scandal ranked among nation’s worst.”

Does this seem like Fox News excluded much “information” from the interview? Or, are they disappointed Fox News also included information from other interviewees such as VA employee and whistleblower Brandon Coleman?

Coleman highlighted that Phoenix VA has received enormous budgetary increases since the scandal was exposed but the funding has not resolved the problems of wait times and whistleblower retaliation. The facility is still low ranking.

So what is the problem?

Third, if you watch both videos from the Tucker Carlson interview and the earlier interview with regular Fox News, reporters gave RimaAnn Nelson the majority of interview footage. That footage included interviews and what is called b-roll where the reporter narrates the majority of topics he covered in the interview. Nelson herself received 45 seconds of video footage in both segments.

Reporters use b-roll to avoid the segment being boring where viewers tune out.

Last, I did a quick analysis comparing what Fox highlighted in its footage and compared it against the transcripts VA asserts Fox News left out. Below, I added titles to each transcript organized here and include a star before the titles that were addressed on air in whole or in part. As you will see, Fox did cover most of the general topics as they saw fit and included other perspectives.

Again, it seems Phoenix VA is more upset that the segments included clips from veterans negatively affected by existing employee decisions at the facility.

REVIEW: Phoenix VA Press Release

So, VA published all the clips and transcripts for you to view. I posted these below for you to review yourself. Remember to consider the “*” before each title that was covered at least in part in the segments:

*About RimaAnn Nelson Past Problems At St. Louis

Will Carr: As you’re aware of, there’s been some criticism of your time at St. Louis. After there were issues in St. Louis, do you believe that you’re in the best position to help continue to turn things around here in Phoenix?

Rima Nelson: So the issues in St. Louis were brought to my attention by staff, and again, I said the same thing to the staff in St. Louis—I can’t fix what I don’t know. So staff brought to my attention that sterile processes were not being followed the way they should’ve been and that there were some concerns not only in sterile processing but in the operating room.

When those were brought to my attention, we took action immediately. And so what I’m focusing on is one, making sure that employees feel that they are working in an environment where they can say what needs to be said and that leadership takes action immediately. And that’s what I did in St. Louis, and the facts will speak for itself. There were no veterans that were infected, and if I had to make those decisions again,

I would, because at the end of the day, we had better processes in place, better systems. We were able to provide better care to veterans.

And I really feel that the employees saw that we did take them seriously, so I’m very happy with what happened there in a sense that a lot of those issues that we addressed immediately—in fact, all of them—came from employees themselves.

*After St. Louis, Can You Fix Phoenix?

Will Carr: Do you understand why after everything that’s happened at this facility, veterans would have concerns about what happened in St. Louis?

Rima Nelson: I understand, because if they read the headlines, the headlines would paint a different story, and that’s why I think it’s very important, because we’re all in this together serving veterans, is that the stories are balanced and the facts speak for itself. And so I do understand their concerns and I thank them—our external stakeholders, the veteran service organizations, employees—for asking, “What happened in St. Louis?” and allowing me to share with them that what happened in St. Louis is consistent with what I want to have happen here, and that is folks come forward when there’s an issue so we can address them.

*Refusal To Give Scale Of 1 To 10

Will Carr: I’ll wrap up by looping back to my first question, because I don’t think I got a number, but just in your mind right now, on a scale of 1 to 10, overall, what do you think the status of this facility is, compared to 2014?

Rima Nelson: I wasn’t here in 2014, and so I don’t have all the details. I know what happened with the access issue in 2014, but I’m going to stay away from a rating because I don’t have all the information.

Will Carr: Well, let me ask you this way: What do you think the rating is of the facility right now compared to where you want it to get to be?

Rima Nelson: Where I want it? Well, all of us would want it to be a 10 if the scale is from 1 to 10. But we’re not there, because we have a lot of work to do.

Will Carr: Where are you realistically right now?

Rima Nelson: I won’t give that number, only because we have a lot of work to do still. But I would say that significant improvements have been made based on the numbers that I shared.

*What Is Biggest Thing To Fix At Phoenix?

Will Carr: What are the biggest things that need to be fixed right now, in your opinion?

Rima Nelson: There’s a lot to be fixed. I mean, we’re focusing on access, as you know. This was what brought attention to Phoenix, so access is at the top as well as quality and safe care. But to give you an idea of the numbers that we’re dealing with, from last year to this year, we enrolled over 4,000 new veterans into the Phoenix VA healthcare system and we had over a million outpatient clinics visits in this past year as well. In addition, we deal without about 1,400 consults a day, which is over 350,000 consults per year. So that should give you an idea of the volume that we’re working with, so access is important, though sale quality measures are important. But I would say what I’ve brought to this is making sure that we are looking at this on a daily basis. We cannot take our eye off of this because the volumes that I described are very large, and in order for us to make sure that veterans have access to this care, we have to ensure that the capacity to provide this care is balanced with the demand.

*Continued Reports Of Wait Time Problems From OIG And OSC

Will Carr: Recent reports by the OIG and the OSC have said that there’s still significant wait times for patients. What is your average wait time right now?

Rima Nelson: So it depends on what you’re looking at. So there are many different lanes—I would use lanes to describe the different things that we’re looking at. So for example, let me pick cardiology. This morning we had 213 consults in cardiology in the process of being scheduled and reviewed. That is 23 more than we had yesterday—yesterday we had 190. And of those 213, we look at consults that need to be addressed immediately because they’re of an urgent nature and we make sure that those consults are, like I said, addressed immediately. Then we have consults that are routine, that are not emergent, and so at that point we give our veterans a choice. If we’re not able to see them within 30 days, then we schedule that care out in the community if the veteran prefers to be seen outside.

Will Carr: With that in mind, do you think that you’re still struggling with wait times right now?

Rima Nelson: I wouldn’t say struggling, I would say we have a large volume of consults we need to continue to address, and again, because we have a lot of veterans enrolling into our system, so it’s very important that in order to maintain timely access to this care that we’re providing, we need to stay on top of it daily.

*Whistleblower Retaliation

Will Carr: As you know, whistleblowers have come forward since 2014 with various allegations. There’s been some recently saying that data is still being manipulated here. Is that the case?

Rima Nelson: You know, every employee, and I’ve said this from the beginning, that we cannot fix what we don’t know, and I’m very happy to say that I’ve had many employees come forward with concerns and issues in their area, and these concerns and issues have to do with systems that are not working the way they should. So I’m appreciative that employees are engaged and involved and are willing to not only bring it to our attention but to work to be part of the solution to fix it. We’re all in this together, we’re here to serve veterans, and to make sure that they get the care in the timeframe that they need it and make sure it’s of high quality. I will not tolerate a culture where there’s retaliation. That is not the culture that we want here, so I have an open door, I continue and will continue to say I cannot fix what we don’t know, what I don’t know.

Advice To Veterans Having Problems Accessing Care

Will Carr: What would you say to veterans who are continuing to run into problems here?

Rima Nelson: So it depends what the problem is, and what I would say to them is that we are working every day to make sure that we address whatever those concerns are. So for example, one of the areas that I’m working with our TriWest partners is to make sure that the coordination of care for our veterans between the community care providers and the VA is as seamless as it can be without putting the burden on the veteran to make sure that that care is provided. We have a long ways to go, still have a lot of work to do, but we’ve also made a lot of progress. And when veterans bring issues forward, we look at those individually and we work immediately to try to break that down step by step to understand the root cause and address it. But we still have a lot of work to do.

Problems With Veteran Suicides

Will Carr: I know the issue of suicidal elopements came up within the past couple years and there were problems there and that is one section that you guys have addressed recently. Can you tell me what has been done to help make sure that that is not happening in the future?

Rima Nelson: So a lot has been done. So one of the things that we’re able to provide today that we were not able to provide two years ago is that we have same-day access to mental health services. We also have social workers that are trained in mental health to cover the emergency department on a 24-hour basis seven days a week. We were also able to expand capacity in the emergency department by adding over 20 more beds so that our wait times in the emergency department has decreased. By doing those things, we can ensure that when a veteran presents with a mental health issue or is in crisis that we’re able to immediately take care of that veteran. So that is something that we are able to do. We also look on a daily basis at the number coming into the emergency department, and so yesterday we had 144 visits. Of that 144, we ended up admitting 21 veterans into the medical center, but we also know that our wait time was a little over two hours, which is below the national average. So those are things that we keep track of, but whenever a veteran signs into the emergency department and leaves without being seen, we have a process in place where we make sure that we contact that veteran to make sure that they’re okay. So we have put in multiple systems in place to ensure that veterans are receiving the care, and of course mental health is the area that we need to really make sure we keep an eye out for because we want to make sure we serve veterans that are in crisis.

Veterans Will Have Same Day Access?

Will Carr: You just mentioned same-day access. Can you define what that means?

Rima Nelson: What that means? So if a veteran comes in and needs to be seen by a mental health provider, they can be seen today.

Will Carr: Okay. It’s been explained to me that there’s a difference between preferred dates and actual dates when you can get seen, and so if somebody wants to get seen today, that can actually happen?

Rima Nelson: Yes.

*Revolving Door Of Directors

Will Carr: Okay. As you know, there’s been a revolving door of directors or acting directors here recently. What can you say to the veterans who don’t feel like there’s been stable leadership here, and that’s led to continued problems.

Rima Nelson: Yeah, so today we have 3,300 employees and that is an increase of over 850 in the past two years. So there’s been a lot of employees coming into the system and leaving the system for one reason or another. I am aware I am the seventh director and that has been a frustration, but I’m here to stay. Next week will be my fourth month here—I don’t have any plans to go anywhere. You know, there’s a great group of employees here at Phoenix that are dedicated to serving the veterans in the Phoenix area. We have a lot of work to do, but we are headed in the right direction and we continue to enroll thousands of veterans into the Phoenix VA healthcare system and we have a tremendous amount of support from our veteran service officers, our representatives. And so, you know, this is a great place to work and we continue to hire more staff. But as far as leadership, I’m here to stay and I really look forward to working with the employees here in Phoenix.

Final Words From RimaAnn Nelson

Will Carr: Anything else that you want to add, Director Nelson, that you would like for people to know? There’s a lot of critics out there, as you’re well aware of.

Rima Nelson: Mm-hm.

Will Carr: Anything else that you can do to quell their fears about the future of this facility?

Rima Nelson: Well, what I would like to say is that there are a lot of great things happening here at the VA in Phoenix. Again, we have a great group of committed employees, 37 percent of them being veterans themselves. We have tremendous support from our community partners who want to see that we are successful. The areas we need to continue to work on, like I mentioned, because veterans are enrolling into the Phoenix VA, is the area of access, and in addition to that, quality. So the things I described about the sale measures are things that are at the forefront of what we do. We are looking at that and making sure we address lengths of stay and so forth, but there’s a lot of good things happening here and what I would like to see is that when stories are written and told about the Phoenix VA, that those are balanced and fair because it is the veterans that watch and listen that are the ones most affected and we want to make sure that the veterans hear both sides of the story.

Will Carr: And that’s certainly why we wanted to talk to you and I appreciate you taking the time. And I know not all easy questions, but there’s a lot of questions out there by the veterans who use this facility, so we do really appreciate you sitting down and answering those for us.

Conclusion?

After reading through the transcript, what do you think? Did VA add to the dialogue by pushing out a late press release in response to the Fox News story?

If yes, was it effective or did it highlight even more problems?

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91 Comments

  1. I am a oef vet just waiting to die or blow my brains out in Phoenix. I’m homeless and “same day” care is utter bull. I did my job when I got blown up and buried my brothers; all I’m asking is for the VA to do theirs. This isn’t a charity organization. Everyone at the Phoenix VA is getting paid and as a whole aren’t giving us veterans what we deserve. Hell I got turned away from the ptsd clinic because I didn’t have a referral when I had already gone through that entire 3 month long process last year. We’d be better off sharing that $100million and find our own private healthcare because that extra money is just sitting in somebody’s pocket right now.

    1. @ Ishmel G, someone just posted trumps hotline number 202-456-1111. Please reach out to someone for help. You are too valuable to everyone. Are you still online?

  2. @cj – Hope you and @Ex va have been doing ok. I haven’t been doing much because of additional stress, pain, constipation, and on-and-off migraines. I’m actually laying on my right side, leaning over the hospital bed, while typing on the laptop located on a chair. Its awkward. I don’t know how long I’ll be on tonight.

    And, my sleeping patterns have been effecting my response time, thought, and clarity. I get upset when I’m in this situation. No help from VA. You know how they are, they know everything, besides what is actually going on. A lot of dumb ass shit going on nowadays. It’s time to clean all this stuff up. Ben’s blog has been quite active with informational posts, and of course, a little spatting. Good for conversation. What’s up with you?

    1. @ANutterVet: Glad your ok, sorry your stress and pain levels are peaking. Hope you can get some of that normalized. It sux being incapacitated for so long. All is good on this end, no complaints. Ex va, hasn’t been feeling well, the flu got him good.. He still finds a way to get on for a couple hours. He was asking about you.

      1. @cj – Glad to year you’ve been normal. According to the extreme left, what is normal? Never mind, please don’t tell me. I told my wife the next thing will be marrying animals. Remember, talk to the animals?

        I read a couple of Ex va’s posts. He’s been dealing with a lot of issues, and compounding that with the type of meds he’s taking. There’s been heavy discussion today on the Ben’s blog. Sandusky is not to far from me [and he can stay where he is at as well]. Philly has always been a weird place. Good food, but weird beliefs.

      2. @ANutterVet: I saved all that info you provided, on top of all that there are a few other things starting to happen. I need to make an appointment with my private pcp, It’s been a very long time, but I think I have been getting mini siezures again, also verticle double vision witch is strange to say the least. the moon looks like an egg. Tail lights look like they are more than a few sets one on top another. Street lights the same. I don’t like changes lol. VA pcp is useless at teets on a flagpole. Onle second visit it took to find that out.

      3. @cj – That info is quite informative. So your vision seems like it changes the more you look up? I’ve read a lot of the posts when people described problems with TBI. Doesn’t sound like you can control the symptoms. How many teets are on a flag pole out the mid-west? Flagpoles here, we’ll it seems that each row is not symmetrical. What does that mean? LOL I knew a woman, who had more teets than normal. No kidding.

      4. @ANutterVet: LOLLLLl you been dating one of capt kirks ex girfriends? I am in corn and cow country, you would be surprised what some of the flagpoles look like here. The vision does’t change with head movemennt. Some times it’s normal, other days I feel a presure behind the eyes, and then the double vision starts. I think I will try to ween off of clonazepam, then maybe Morphine. I have a reduction schedule for Morphine so that should be fine. Clonazepam will just start stretching it out, waiting to feel withdrawls before taking another.

      5. @cj – So your vision changes day to day. You won’t know how your vision is until you wake up. At least you’ll be surprised. Did you get your tapering off charts from the VA? Some people have a hard time with clonazepam. The morphine, that’s another thing. All I know, is that I wish that I had a normal digestive system. I never know when the throne will be calling. Hey, did you get a wind storm a day or so ago? The wind did a lot of damage over here. Trees down, power outages, duplex framing of homes blown to the ground. Any damage on your end?

      6. @ANutterVet: Lot of wind, no damage though. Yes the tapering chart is from the va for Morphine. I used it once and ther was no withdrawl symtoms at all. Clonazepam I am on my own but will try to follow the same proocedure. I think clonazepam is going to be harder than morphine. I know this isn’t the right time of the year but I love good storms. We all sit out on the front porch, dogs and all to watch them. This Dogo we have hates thunder, starts shaking badly. Never had a dog that was afraid of storms before.

      7. @cj – I tapered off of clonazepam. It wasn’t to bad, but I stretched it out for over a month. I figure its different for each person. Sounds like Dogo is very sensitive to noises. Ours gets that sometimes, then when you bust out a treat, his mental focus changes. When there are storms, I’m always up. I don’t know what it is, been like this for me ever since getting out of the Navy. In the islands, it is very rare to have thunderstorms. Here on the E Coast its another story. I forgot to ask you, how much morphine do you take a day, and how long have you been using it for pain?

      8. @ANutterVet: Have been taking it since at least 2008, 30mg x 3 daily. It doesn’t really do anything for the pain, but it takes away the tickling from neuropathy. If it returns after stopping morphine then I will have to start taking it again. Firefox is fucked up today……keeps crashing, I switched over to opera and no troubles.

      9. @cj – Hey Brother, I need to crash. I only had may be 2 hours sleep last night. Plus, laying on my right side is flaring up the pain down below. You have a good evening and get some rest. I’ll catch up with you later. Good night to . . . . . . Ben’s World !

      10. @ANuterVet: Yes treats come out when storms start. wholly crap Opera is lightning fast compared to firefox.

  3. Hey, “cj”
    Here’s three current videos on “PizzaGate”! All three dated 13 Feb 2017.
    #1)
    From:
    “MLordandGod”
    Titled:

    “BREAKING: Hundreds Arrested In Nationwide Pizzagate Raids!”

    (3:33 minutes long)

    #2)
    From:
    “The Still Report” – Bill Still reporting.
    via- “KTLA-TV5 Los Angeles.
    Titled:

    “474 Arrested, 28 Underage Sex Slaves Rescued in Calif. Sting”

    (4:00 minutes long)
    This one is a very in-depth report!

    #3)
    From:
    “InfoWars.com”
    via “Fox News”
    Titled:

    “Trump Begins Pedophile Roundup Sandusky’s Son Arrested On Sex Charges”

    (7:25 minutes long)

    WOW, Jerry Sandusky’s son is a pedophile!

    I do believe this investigation started over the laptop once owned by Anthony Wiener. You remember him, that “pedophile” who was caught “sexting” that 15 year old young girl. Which, by the way, wasn’t the first time he’d been caught doing that.
    I’ve got a real good suspicion that laptop had more than just Hillary’s “33,000 lost emails”!
    I gotta real good suspicion they contain names, dates, places, etc., etc. of what these reprobates have been up to for decades. Especially when it comes to paedophilia of innocent young girls and boys!!!!!!!

    1. Holy Batshit, Batman! Perhaps we are finally hearing that sucking sound Ross Perot always used to refer to, and it’s from the nasty swamp. If I were a VA rat, I would be a very nervous rat about right now. However, I also notice the protestors are getting more bold and growing in numbers…maybe the Nat’l Guard needs some Winter Exercises? 🙂

    2. @Crazy elf: Thank you again. This is the most disturbing thing I can imagine, pedophilia. It is one of those things that when you here about it in such a large worldwide network, it make you wanna puke. It also makes you want to dig so that nobody guilty of this is allowed to fall through the cracks. The only problem with digging into all of this is how filthy and grimy it makes you feel when your done digging for the day. The more sick it makes me feel, the more I want justice for all those poor young souls. My wife asked me once if I could actually take another persons life, and she wasn’t talking about as being in the military. I said of course I could, meaning the very sickest of the sick. I would feel an obligation to do so, so that another innocent child could never be injured again by these fucking bastards.
      Even in prisons the lowest of the low knows……..YOU DON’T MESS WITH CHILDEREN!!!!!! Your right about the Clinton’s being involved in all of this as well. That is a documentary all on it’s own. I hope they end up frying for what they have done, and all of their cohorts. What is so disgusting is how far and deep this all goes, it is simply unbelievable. It’s like trying to describe infinity to someone with a closed mind, just incomprehensible…..This whole mess ties in with other aspects, such as parents selling their own kids……wtf kind of person does that? Knowing what is going to happen to that child. I saw a documentary about human trafficking, and no big surprise where the majority of these young girls end up………..Israel. This entire world is a swamp, and the entire globe needs to be drained. It is sick times we live in, God help us all.

    3. @Crazy elf: I visit aclj.org to see what petitions he has going at the time. He is the lawyer that got a sergeant reinstated after being booted from the military for kicking a Iraqi pedo’s ass, body slamming his ass all the way out of the post. He also defended another team leader for forwarding classified info to his team to save their lives. Lot if interesting world news events t pick up on there.

  4. Honestly, is there a fix for the VA before, let’s say, 10years? I’ve heard all types of problems with the VA, and very few solutions. It’s the employees, top to bottom. If you aren’t a whistleblower, you’re at least part of the problem. If you don’t see any problems, you don’t belong working FOR Veterans. Shut the VA down, or at least make Choice Card Veteran friendly. This isn’t working, and Dr. Shulkin, well, his priorities are too few, too late, and appears more like icing without cake.

    1. That may be icing on a turd, but jury is still out on that one as far as Shulkin goes. Change of the monumental type the VA requires needs not to move at glacial speeds. What is required is a mass firing of a bunch of troublesome managers and directors and a few other choice positions across the system to ensure a wide scale example is placed showing ship -up or be shipped-out.
      The mafia would just place a first warning horses head in someone’s bed but we need not hurt those beautiful creatures for such cheap parlor trick shock values. No, it’s going to take no less than severing the VA from the AFGE Union. I realistically and logically see no other way. They are lamprey sucking the very life and $ from the system and infecting it with apathy. The snake’s head needs severed.

      Rant Out….other than change is a painful process and often as painful as the process that got one to where they are at like pulling-off a large scab on a wound. It hurts but feels so good! 🙂 I still have my reservations about Dr. Shulkin’s actual drive to change anything but am still waiting….waiting….

      1. As long as VA Sec. Shulkin continues to allow incompetent oompa loompahs like this woman down in Phoenix VAMC, he better be all set with a golden parachute because I don’t think Pres. Trump wants to screw around. This nationwide scouring of illegals that are actual criminals with warrants is enough to show me I need to allow time for this monumental draining of the large agency called the VA.

        Yes, she looks like one of Willy Wonka’s oompa loompahs.

  5. Now can someone help us at the Northern Arizona Health Center. Prescott, Arizona VA for short. We have so many issues going on here that we need help with. I have obtained 3 Letters of Medical Necessity fro 3 different doctors. I have had 2 trials that were amazing, especially since I was able to cut down on my 240 Mg’s of Oxycodone 3 times a day on the item. You think this VA cares? NO. I have been fighting them as the acting Medical Director just lies to Senators and Congressman and they don’t care. And if I OD on meds, that’s just 1 less Veteran for the VA here to take care of. I have all documents to prove it. OIG has even picked up the case recently. I hope they wipe every department head in Physical Therapy, Prosthetics, excetra. They get away with murder, and there is no checks on it. But if a staff member needs help, there are a thousand ways to get help. Try typing in Veterans retaliated against and nothing comes up. Yes Dr. Piatt and David Blount, this is directed at you ESP

  6. Hey “cj”,
    You might want to take a peek at the following video! “Names are named” in the “paedophilia network” out in Napa Valley, California. From a “mother” who’s daughter got involved by an individual associated with Nancy Pelosi.
    Titled:

    “PizzaGate Pedophile Victim’s Mom Speaks Out In Exclusive Tell-All!”

    Quote: “David Zublick brings you the horrible truth!”
    Posted: 13 Feb 2017. (43:53 min. long)

    There’s also “…an update on the massive nationwide arrests…”, concerning the many prostitutes, pedophiles and sex trafficking of underage children! These things will never be discussed by the Main Stream Medias!
    You may or may not be aware of how Gov. Jerry Brown, (D-Ca) just signed into law, making prostitution legal for underaged children! David Zublick discusses that in the video.

    I hate to say this about Californians, but they have some of the stupidest people alive! “God have mercy on their wretched souls!”, because I wouldn’t!

    1. @Crazy elf: Thank you, I will check it later tonight, I appreciate all info you can dig up on this. It goes very deep indeed. I have been digging around the deep web as well investigating this. It makes you wanna jump in a pool of bleach.

    2. @Crazy elf: Maybe I shouldn’t put this thought into your head, and maybe it is already there. If you are going to go investigating on the deep web, make sure you use the a tor-browser. To better protect yourself get veracrypt and learn how to use it. If you want to go off the deep end get an old computer and setup qubes os onto it. You can run a virtual os inside of a virtual os, and so on and so on, all running through the tor network creating close to 1mil ip nodes. Impossible to know where your at.

  7. I’m just wondering if the VA lost some of its propaganda and misinformation money. Didn’t they print the entire report for transparency? Just made her less transparent. Not that way Dennis.

    1. @Jo3n,
      They didn’t lose any money. It went into their pockets. I gotta sneaking suspicion many of our government employees, from top to bottom, have off shore accounts they have hidden from the taxpayers.
      I also have a sneaking suspicion they’re driving expensive cars and own multiple high end homes in multiple states and other countries!
      You know, places they can run to when they get caught.

      1. P.S.
        Like when Hillary finds out she’s got multiple warrants out for her arrest. She can run to Qatar. Where she sent $1.8 BILLION dollars to last year.

  8. As a 100% disabled Vietnam combat veteran, the VA Medical Center in Phoenix, scares veterans. They lie, cheat and now have a leader who lies and cheats. So, so, so! That’s all anyone hears from her! Like many in the VA system, they are protected from being fired, get outrageous bonuses for very poor performance, move to other facilities without ever accounting for their past histories of failure, and do not manage the money they are given properly.
    I will require another Pacemaker in two years, and wonder if they will put me off allowing me to die, because people like those at the leadership in Phoenix, are unable to perform their jobs on qualifications they do not possess.
    The VA medical system is broken, not due to the lack of money, but due to the lack of skilled leadership, and people who do not lie and cheat!
    RimaAnn Nelson should not be the director of traffic let alone of the VA Medical facility in Phoenix, Arizona!
    This proves our government has no idea of how a business, any business should be run. The Post Office, the VA, the DoD, the DoEd, the DOJ under Lynch or Holder, all point to failed leadership!
    The Post Office has not made a profit in my lifetime, always being in debt. The Department of Defense is just a big bottomless hole to dump money into, without any management!
    The Department of Education should never have existed, letting the States educate the students, and never allowing Unions to enroll teachers!
    The Department of Justice has run the course of leadership, those that lie, that play politics and refuse to read or stand by the laws, I.e. Eric Holder just spent four years wasting taxpayers money, covering for the lawless President, followed by Loretta Lynch, who stood and said she had the authority given her by Congress to arrest anyone for speaking out against the President! Never read anywhere that authority had been granted in writing, definitely not in the Constitution!
    And RimaAnn Nelson needs to go back to doing fingernail painting! She is not qualified to manage a business, especially one as large as the Phoenix VA Medical Center!

    1. Jeff Warner, your response is one of the best I’ve read in a long time!
      Everyone of those “three letter agencies” need draining.
      I think we’re going to see that over the next few months.

  9. RimaAnn Nelson shouldn’t be doing anything at a VA that involves more than emptying a bedpan.
    As one who has had training in giving media interviews and has given them to newspapers ranging from USA Today to the NYTimes to 60 Minutes, this interview was a disaster, and no amount of releasing after-the-fact excuses makes up for that.

    It looks like her PR operation there is rather shoddy and grab-ass by her being so unprepared. They should have stuck with their original brain fart of canceling the interview.

    Nelson was completely unprepared, incompetent and dishonest. She used cliches throughout, or gave unverified assertions and statistics that don’t mean anything, blamed others or flat out lied. If that didn’t work then she said a lot of words that didn’t mean anything.

    After 4 months in the job, how can she cluelessly claim she does not have information on the hospital rating? Really? This isn’t something they self-report? She couldn’t offer statistics claiming she was improving in some areas that are rated, but still had work to do in other areas? How many more millions will it take for her to get that info?

    Her description of her time at St. Louis suggests anyone listening to her is stupid and cannot see her lies and dodging.
    She seemed to blame the staff for not reporting it to her immediately, and claimed staff can report problems to her immediately so they can be fixed immediately.

    Really? If I recall, around 1800 were exposed in St. Louis. That doesn’t happen in one day of operation, that happens over time. Is Nelson claiming the employees witnessed this exposure over time, day after day and one day decided to report it to her?
    She said they were concerned. Yeah, I think those vets exposed to infectious diseases like HIV and HEP C were also concerned.

    She claims none were infected. How does she know? Did she get reports of this at her job in the Philippines? How long did it take to track down all who were exposed and test them? They still haven’t contacted all vets at Tomah.

    Her claim that none were infected is a bullshit lie because if anyone asked for proof, she would hide behind HIPAA and privacy. I guess privacy doesn’t matter when a bureaucrat is covering their ass.

    She repeats herself about fair and balanced coverage, yet refuses to provide fair and balanced responses to employees and veterans. Why lie about knowing about the whistle blower?

    She claims she won’t tolerate a culture of retaliation, then gives a national interview where she blatantly lies about a whistle blower? She essentially told every employee with knowledge of that whistle blower that she WILL tolerate retaliation.

    She continues to dodge about their rating and other issues, but claims they are struggling.

    Lets see. 2014 and a whistle blower exposes 40 dead vets waiting on care. Scandal, directors hop on and off the merry-go-round at Phoenix. 3 years later the number of dead vets dead from waiting on bureaucrats is 118, or almost triple the original 40 dead vets. Or you could look at it as 40 dead vets average per year since 2014, so after several directors and $100 million, their average stayed the same.
    Or you could look at the 200 number and see things have gotten worse.

    Yeah, Phoenix is struggling. Vets are stuggling too. To stay alive.

    Finally, and I mean no disrespect to Air Force veterans, but why are there so many Air Force veterans that end up in a PR job at the VA, and they have no problem lying on behalf of an organization that harms or kills veterans?

    It must be the difference between someone doing a quick hitch in the Air Force, then getting out and going right to a PR job at VA, as opposed to an Air Force veteran who did a longer term of service or saw much harder duty that wouldn’t stand for that crap of lying for the VA.

    1. @91Veteran — It’s from all that experience explaining away the tens of thousands UFO Reports local AFB’s receive, and if you’re lucky enough to be stationed at or around Roswell AFB, well, you have the perfect on the job training transiting from Air Force to the VA. However, that does not explain lack of ethics these days that’s thrown to wayside for the almighty dollar at the expense of their fellow Veterans…no excuse. I hate that hypocrisy as well. You also see this behavior often once a Veteran becomes a congress critter.

      1. I agree about all, particularly Congress.

        I guess most vets get an idea about buddies, others they served with and helping their fellow vets.

        I don’t understand how some of these guys can just ignore their service, camaraderie or helping their fellow vets when they blatantly lie and do anything to protect the management of their VA…always at the expense of the veterans who need care.

  10. Do they cut all VA faces out of the dough with the same cookie cutter or what? Does it now occur to a single human that every single VA official is bloated and morbidly obese? Good Lord when will our government turn off the feeding trough!

    Tell me again how overworked she is? How many long days on her feet she has served? Was it hard service or more like soft serve? It seems harsh but when EVERY single administrator is brimming over into triple chins and size 5XL push up bras (even men) it sure seems to speak to a pigish culture. Stinky one too. Really obese people can’t reach all the places others can for personal hygeine. I would hate to see the skid marks on the toilet seats in the executive bathroom with this woman around. Yuckkkkk.

    I propose that we restrict ALL VA doorways into executive spaces to 18″ wide. No greasing up allowed either. Just work your way in through sheer effort, or go home. It is time to trim the pork from the VA budget and sacrifices must be made somewhere. It will be a whale of a job to rid VA of this burden but I say let the harpoons fly!

    This concludes my pointless off topic personal attack well outside the bounds of acceptable diversified thinking. Have a nice day. I’m gonna eat breakfast now.

    1. Dennis, I couldn’t agree with you more. Very seldom have I seen any “physically fit” persons working at VHA’s nationwide.
      Maybe too many “bon bons” on their desks!

    2. Rumor has it in the hospital hallways at the VA you always notice handrails too low for walking use and too high for a wheelchair bound person to utilize? Those are not handrails at all. They are bumper guards in the event a gaggle of VA Administrators or Dr.’s or RN’s should bump into each other in the hallways, causing a seismic event. Spared no expense. California Earthquake Certified. Hungry, Hungry Hippos Pinball Edition. 🙂

    3. It makes one wonder how many veterans have been told their care will be stopped or restricted if they are overweight.

      As for the doors, does that width apply if a Twinkie is thrown in first?

      1. The Twinkie would cause an implosion of way too much mass for allotted area and like a butterfly’s wings starting a hurricane, that one Twinkie could crush the integrity of that building like a bunker-buster.

  11. Here’s an article out from:
    “Liberty Headlines.com” (12 Feb 2017)
    via;
    “fmshooter.com/alleged muslim” (11 Feb 2017)
    Titled:

    “Alleged Muslim Spy Ring is Why Tillerson was Right to Clean House!”

    This concerns the “Yemen Raid” and the three (3) Muslim brothers, “Awan Brothers”, who had access to highly classified (top secret) Intel while working in D.C.!
    The best article on this comes from;
    “fmshooter.com”! It’s much more detailed.
    Great read, with a ‘time-line of events’ surrounding the raid!

  12. I haven’t been able to use “Choice”! The imbeciles at VHA’s I go to, refuse to allow me that “privilege”!
    My wife has even told them they are violating my rights.
    What has it gotten me – absolutely nothing! As a matter of fact, since my wife exposed the physician, my appointments have been cancelled and moved to a later date!
    How’s that for VA’s bullshit!

  13. On your post, she said she understood why the wait list scandal, but didn’t say. Said she knew about 2014, but didn’t say. She’s only been there for 4 months, and knows what’s wrong, but didn’t say. One interviewed, said money was pouring in, . But what they spending it on? Ben, this interview was proof just how ignorant directors can be.

    1. Where does the va. hide YOUR MONEY? “https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rw9SvCiJm1k” I posted this late last night on the previous subject. It is someting all veterans shoulf see.

    2. The link provided shows how the va denies YOUR claim, and at the same time opens an account in YOUR name. then cashes YOUR disability checks into THEIR account. ………..isn’t that special?

      Also shows how the Military placed an illegal code on your Honerable discharge that prevents you from getting hired for a good job, and McCain knes all about this. Again……………..isn’t that special?

  14. Attempting to get a “seamless” connection to Triwest (VA Choice program)(Triwest is a division of Tricare). and getting it are two different things. Choice was supposed to solve the problem but they overloaded two big contractors of the whole country instead of splitting up the contracts for the regions so companies would have an easier time to rise to the task.

    Billions in contracts for Choice and over 25 million in executive compensation for Health Net’s top 5 executives. Ove 12.5 million at the top. They could have hired a lot more operators if they had spent half on executive compensation.

    1. Still waiting over 30 days for my “seamless” connection to Health Net for reauthorization of my Choice appointments for this year.

      1. That reminds me. Today is my one week on which I was assured I would be getting a call from Choice on my appointment.

        I’m sure that call will be coming any second now.

  15. This came out yesterday, 12 Feb. 2017, from;
    “MLordandGod” via “USA Politics Today” (2:36 minutes long)
    Titled;

    “Alert: Clinton Foundation Just Showed Their Bitterness That Could Leave Hundreds Dead!’

    A must watch video. It has to do with “…raising a Life Giving Drug Price by 700%!”
    We’ve heard about this company, which is tied to the Foundation, before!
    _______________________

    Second article is from: “Military.com/Daily News” via “Stars and Stripes” | by Nikki Wentling.
    Dated: Feb. 11, 2017.
    Titled:

    “Lawmakers Attempt Action on 24 VA Facilities in Limbo!”

    Actually the lawmakers want to open these facilities asap. They’re going to be spending a large ‘chunk of taxpayers monies’ to accomplish this!
    I believe the lawmakers should spend more time correcting the VHA facilities killing/murdering veterans!
    By the way, where are all the professional medical staff be coming from? They can’t even hire responsible technical staff or anyone else for that matter! Forget about directors or other high echelon public servants! All they care about is stuffing their wallets with taxpayers monies!

    1. OK, folks, I got some current Intel on that “Pizzagate Scandal” plaguing America! Both are from:
      “neonnettle.com/video”
      The first, (#1) is from “five days ago”. The second, (#2) is out today, 13 Feb. 2017!

      #1) (dated 5 days ago)

      “Pizzagate: The Video That Will Change Everything You Thought You Knew!”

      For example: Did you know, Obama spent “…almost $65,000 on a private pizza/hotdog party at the White House?
      For example: “John & Tony Podesta’s paedophilia artwork!”
      There’s more in the video!
      ________________________

      #2) (dated: 13 Feb. 2017)

      “Pizzagate: High Level Pedophile Ring Arrests To Begin Within Hours!”

      This article explores how the, (paedophilia), arrests which are/have occurred within the past few weeks, (California, Illinois, Florida and other states), are directly connected to the arrests getting ready to take place in New York, Washington DC and more!!!!!
      ______________________

      President Trump’s “Draining the Swamp” is going to take on a new meaning. It’s going to be a wild ride in the coming days and/or weeks!
      One thing of importance. The NEW head of the DOJ, Jeff Sessions, was “briefed on this issue” about two weeks ago. So, he is well aware of the situation.
      ______________________

      How I got these two articles.
      I typed in this question to Google!

      “Will DOJ and/or FBI start arresting high profile government pedophiles”

      What I received was MANY numerous articles concerning this issue! On the “2nd page” I got #2, which is dated today, 13 Feb. 2017!
      Some date back to 2015. Most are from 2016!

      As Kurt Russel said in “Tombstone”, “Get ready for Hell!”
      It’s definitely going to get extremely hot for some people in the coming days!

      1. @Crazy elf: Man that is the sickest shit I have ever seen. I have been following Pizzagate from the beggining, on and off. Thank you for the update, I was going to check on the status of this later. I hope everyone involved gets their JUST reward.

      2. @Crazy elf: Along with pizzagate, this entire hollywood swamp needs to be drained.
        “https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cvlle8qQag8” I posted this late lastnight on the previous subject, I find it relevant to Pizzagate in general as it deals with pedophilia.

      3. @cj,
        I’ve also been following it for some time now.
        One thing I’ve become aware of recently is. There are companies out there designing and making “life sized dolls of children”. Which could/can be used by pedophiles for their sick pleasures!

        I hope and pray ALL these degenerate sick fucks end up in a prison cell with “BUBBA”! Can you imagine the Podesta brothers, the Clinton’s and other asswipes being made into “BITCHES” by some of the worst murderers in prison!?!??!
        Like I’ve said many times – at no time in my life have I ever “felt sorry” for anyone”, had felt “Pity” for anyone or anything else for that matter!
        People make their own decisions. Not one individual is “made to do anything”! God gave each person the ability to either do right or wrong! I’m not saying I’m perfect. I’ve made mistakes in my life. Only, I definitely know paedophilia is wrong! Anyone caught doing the things, as described by many news outlets, to children – should receive the death penalty!
        That’s my opinion brothers and sisters!

      4. @Crazy elf: My fingers aren’t working too well this morning, they have been in the “birds to the turds” position, the turds being the va.

    2. Well, Phoenix just hired 850 according to Nelson.

      Clearly they aren’t doing anything in Phoenix since their annual average confirmed kill rate has stayed the same.

      1. I cannot even imagine the logistics of mass hiring of 85 workers, let alone 850, and thorough background checks? Hmmm. Track record and survey shows…probably not well at all and it would not surprise me if a large amount of the newly hired were newly released from prison under Obama’s open prison door policy? It could happen…

      2. @namnibor: You don’t think…….those religious organizations you mentioned………booklets……prisoners…hmmmm. In my best Arte Johnson voice………verddi inter restinggg!!

  16. IT SHOULD HAVE READ I think it’s very important, because we’re all in this together FUCKING OVER OUR veterans, we lie cheat and steal then we fire the good employees that tell the truth……and most good people in the medical profession wouldn’t work at a VA facility; a friend of mine, his wife got a job at the VA in TN. She worked there for a week and and quit because she couldn’t handle the way the staff treated vets. They called her afterwards to ask why she quit; as she started informing them as to the reasons why they hung up on her.

    1. That shows you just how much emphasis the VA places on “ICARE” and placing Veterans First with the VA hanging-up on your friend’s wife.

      Indifference
      Crushes
      Accountability
      Really
      Effectively

      1. Their lesser known program,
        Individual,Excellence,And,Training (I EAT) is a huge success at VA. Vienna sausage sales have skyrocketted in the canteen.

  17. Same shit, different day

    Propoganda, and not very good at that.

    They played whackamo with her and this is where she pops up

    Did I mention same shit different day?

  18. First, THANK YOU to Brandon Coleman and others who are standing tall for veterans!

    Just like Hillary Clinton’s little diatribe a couple years ago, quote: “It’s a Right Wing Conspiracy Theory…” by the Republicans and the news medias. Which caused all the problems. Of course, blame others for your failures, seems to be the way of the VA!

    I agree, “7 directors” in two and a half years! What the hell is going on out there? Rima Nelson lied through her teeth. She knew the crap happening out there BEFORE she took over! Why do I say that? Because, to change the “vulture culture” from bad to better, she had to have been informed of the problems prior to taking over! That’s the way it works!

    I think, since the allotted amount of money has increased by $100 million, someone needs to find out where the money is going! Has anyone gotten a fatter (off shore) bank account? Are they driving more expensive autos or have they purchased an expensive home?

    Here’s an idea. Why not find out who’s causing the problems. Demote them. Then give them a large plastic bag and pointed stick. Then have them clean up the mess outside in the grassy area and parking lots. Or, VA’s definitely need dish washers. Or even people to man a mop in the corridors!
    They may not be able to fire the asswipes. But they can definitely make them want to quit!!!!!!!!

    Lastly, the last question is “…did it highlight even more problems?”
    In my opinion, there’s definitely something stinking out there in Phoenix, Az. the citizens and veterans aren’t being told!
    And DON’T expect any help from “SONGBIRD MCCAIN”! He needs to take that long stroll off a short Pier!
    He’s about as worthless as a teet on a boar hog!

    1. Crazy elf–“[I think, since the allotted amount of money has increased by $100 million, someone needs to find out where the money is going! Has anyone gotten a fatter (off shore) bank account]”

      No, they just got fatter.

      “[Here’s an idea. Why not find out who’s causing the problems. Demote them. Then give them a large plastic bag and pointed stick. Then have them clean up the mess outside in the grassy area and parking lots]”

      No pointed sticks for these rat bastards, they can utilize their sharp ratty claws, plus those pointed sticks could put an eye out or deflate a VA Director’s inflated importance… 🙂

      I agree, something very wrong is lurking at Phoenix VAMC location and it requires an enema and PLACE BRANDOM COLEMAN IN CHARGE….NOW!

    2. Imagine what it cost to relocate those 7 directors. Times 2 since they are paying to move one director out and 1 director in.

      If they would have fired and prosecuted Helman thoroughly perhaps they wouldn’t be in this mess.

  19. “[On film in the Fox News segments, the Phoenix VA director RimaAnn Nelson asserts she knew nothing of the present whistleblower scandal and refused to answer questions about how well the agency is doing on a 1 to 10 scale of improvement.]”

    I can visualize her repeating “I KNOW NOTHING”, like Sgt. Schultz would classically always do on that show ‘Hogan’s Heroes’. Or, maybe it’s just similarities in the fat head expressing excellence in healthcare?

    1. Hey, namnibor, did you notice any other “similarities” between Sgt. Shultzs and RimaAnn Nelson?

      Lmfao

  20. Lies, all lies falling upon more lies to cover-up previous lies. The VA Meat Grinder was only annoyed that some extra TRUTHS were being exposed and it seems the NEW TACTIC of the VA Public Relations is to blame……………BAD PRESS. Never ever do these rat bastards admit fault, ever. Was it only “bad press” when whistleblowers are retaliated? Was it only “bad press” when VA employees placed a dead Veteran in a shower stall for a few shifts? How about liquefying Veteran bodies in body bags on shelves? Bad Press again? Wait Lists and retaliation to those bound to report it again, Bad Press?

    I am pretty sure Adolf Hitler viewed it as BAD PRESS when it was revealed they were committing genocide. Perspective is everything when it comes to that thing called BAD PRESS, right?

    Well, bitch, you would not HAVE BAD PRESS if you DID YOUR FREAKING JOBS ACCORDING TO REGS AND LAW…….so yeah, she was eating and chewing VA Crow and probably blowing crow bubbles after the interview while huddled in a corner rocking back and forth crying, “mommy, make them STOP”…. 🙂

    This interview and related video and verbal comments just show the VA is only digging holes to place their fat heads in and blame it ALL on BAD PRESS. *r-r-r-r-ight*

    She KNEW her “star rating” was a -1- all along but if really forced to give a numerical rating, am pretty sure she would muster a strong 8 because she is an ignorant bitch.
    Yeah, rant out.

    Hang-in there VA Whistleblowers, we indeed have your backs and please continue speaking-out. All our lives depend upon it, quite literally. Great article, Ben.

    1. By the way, in the USAF we used to fondly refer to Guam as “The Officer’s Golf Course”, as it was the primary reason people would want to be stationed there. Not the weather nor location, just the location of the golf course.

      1. In the US Navy, among us “Doc’s” we call it ” Give Up And Masturbate”.

        Due to it remoteness and high levels of STD’s.

      2. Anderson AFB Guam one of AF’s biggest. Plenty of room for Golf. Played there as a Corpsman at NH Guam once. Golf wasn’t my sport. Couldn’t keep my eye on the ball after my MVA in 1969.

    2. With all that bad press, can you imagine how many times Johnny Isaakson fell on his ass off his Stairmaster?

      Given his concern for veterans, I’m hoping he gives the leg press a try so we can see him get his ass flung across the gym like a turd shot out of a poo cannon.

  21. She lied about knowing about the retaliation of the whistleblower. Once you lie, everything you say after is suspect. Once again nothing is ever their fault, not St Louis, Not there. I chose to believe the veterans, and the good employee’s who are actually dealing with that particular system. “I am not going anywhere, I’m here to stay” I wonder, did she say that when she was at St Louis, and Guam? Now for the obligatory personal attack………from the looks of her Guam, Guam, Guam, is the sound she makes when eatting crow.

    1. WHO CHOSRE THIS BIG BIG FAT PORKER LOOKS LIKE SHE FIGHTS THE DINNER TABLE @ LOOSES EVERY TRIME MRS NELSON YO ARE ONE BIG BIG FAT PORKER !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      1. Reallly great to see the professionalism here. Just from what @Vaislying inc and @Corpsmanup statements. I have more respect for her than you.

        Don’t degrade yourself because someone you do not like or do not agree with.

        Yes I agree they need some serious help but by making those statements you are just pulling yourself lower than they are, expecially @VAislying INC!

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