‘Secret’ Waitlist For Eye Care Uncovered At Norfolk VA In Nebraska
Norfolk – A new “secret” waitlist was exposed for the second time at a VA healthcare facility located in Nebraska, this time for eye care at Norfolk VA.
At least 56 veterans were placed on an illegal waitlist in 2017 for eye care services instead of referring the veterans to a non-VA care facility or different VA. The names were written on paper and put into a locked drawer instead of being entered into the electronic scheduling system and processed appropriately.
The services sought were apparently not available at the facility, but VA omitted mention of whether those veterans were presented with the Veterans Choice option.
A whistleblower reported the waitlist last November that was subsequently confirmed by investigators.
More Spin On Norfolk VA Waitlist
Don Burman, director of the VA Nebraska Western Iowa Health Care System, spun the incident to the Omaha World-Herald saying the employees were just trying to “do the right thing” by not processing the appointment requests. Burnam said the veterans request the care only from their facility and chose to not receive non-VA care on the spot.
Do we ever believe VA employees were trying to “do the right thing” when intentionally engaging in an illegal act? How ridiculous.
RELATED: Bay Pines VA Loses 500+ Records Requests From Veterans
Of course, Burman later admitted that once the investigation concluded and the veterans contacted, that 33 of them chose non-VA care once presented with the option.
The reporter covering the matter for the Herald apparently wrote the story VA wanted without questioning motives and failures of at least 19 employees who received remedial training after the incident.
YOUTUBE: GI Bill vs VA Vocational Rehabilitation, Which Is Better In 2018?
The Herald stated, “Staff weren’t permitted to take the veterans’ names and offer to call them back when the care became available, even though that was the option requested by veterans whose names were on the unauthorized list.”
Really? Veterans “requested” being on an illegal waitlist when they could’ve received the care at a civilian facility?
Where is the proof that veterans wanted the care only after it became available and not for Veterans Choice at a different facility that could provide the care?
YOUTUBE: Get Accommodations From VA Vocational Rehabilitation
Agency Ignores Clear Instruction, Fails To Fix Waitlist
The Herald continued to parrot what VA wanted, “Burman launched the investigation Nov. 8. A Norfolk manager — whose name was redacted from the report — told investigators she had instructed the staff to stop using the ophthalmology folder after receiving Burman’s memo but did not order the folder destroyed. The names were not transferred to an ‘authorized’ list, either.”
If the veterans really only wanted the eye care from VA, why did those same veterans accept Veterans Choice non-VA care when offered?
VA spokeswoman Teresa Forbes told the Herald the Norfolk VA now has the capability to provide the services in question without mentioning precisely what kind of eye care the veterans sought to begin with.
RELATED: Roseburg VA Death Panel Exposed By NY Times
Omaha VA Waitlist
The news of this newest waitlist issue comes shortly after a more significant waitlist was exposed at Omaha VA in Nebraska. There, hundreds of veterans seeking mental health care were put onto illegal waitlists for a decade.
The managers responsible for the illegal waitlist stepped down from the facility after the problem surfaced. No doubt, they were allowed to relocate like our friend Doug Paxton who ran the failed Roseburg VA until last week. West Virginia found out VA planned to relocate him there but put a kibosh on the plans before he could board a plane.
RELATED: West Virginia Rejects Roseburg VA Director Like A Boss
Pharma exec who bribed VA docs: ‘Greed is an ugly, ugly emotion’
Investigators suspect doctors still taking bribes even as salesman faces disgrace, criminal conviction
By Levi Pulkkinen
SeattlePI
February 9, 2018
“A former pharmaceutical company salesman accused of bribing Veterans Affairs Department doctors to promote his employer’s products has been sentenced to probation.
Advanced BioHealing Inc. executive Todd Clawson and others paid kickbacks to VA podiatrists and clinicians who promoted the company’s product, a “biologic” wound dressing. Clawson pleaded guilty in March 2014 to one count of conspiracy to commit criminal conflicts of interest, bribery and health care fraud.
Addressing U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik, Clawson, 46, offered a tearful apology for his role in the bribery scheme. Clawson had led an exemplary life, building a career in sales after a difficult childhood.
“I am sick over my actions,” Clawson said.
Clawson’s crimes – offering gifts and paying “speaking fees” to doctors with the understanding that they would push Advanced BioHealing’s wound dressing – rocked his family and derailed his career. Most of the others involved in the scheme of suffered no such pain; Assistant U.S. Attorney David Reese Jennings remarked that, two resignations aside, none of the VA doctors who received the bribes have left the VA, and many have found “new suitors.”
In January 2017, Shire paid $350 million in a settlement with the Justice Department over civil claims related to the kickback scheme. Investigators noted sales of Dermagraft saw “a dramatic rise” in sales to the VA during the bribery blitz.
“Giving kickbacks and gratuities to healthcare providers corrupts medical treatment by interjecting personal financial incentives into decisions that should focus on what is best for a particular patient,” District of Columbia U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips said at the time. “These types of unlawful incentives are particularly troubling when they seek to corrupt the medical treatment provided to our nation’s veterans.”
Clawson and others paid to fly a Phoenix VA doctor to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, for a days-long fishing trip in August 2010. According to charging papers, Clawson also plied a VA doctor with Def Leppard tickets, a Wyoming fishing trip and Las Vegas revelry. At least three VA doctors are said to have been flown to Seattle in 2010 to promote the bandages.
Clawson and others concocted seemingly legitimate reasons to pay thousands of dollars to VA doctors who promoted Dermagraft to their colleagues. Doctors were paid as much as $3,000 to attend “speaking engagements” at dinners paid for by Advanced BioHealing and attended by other VA staff.
Jennings explained that federal law prohibits pharmaceutical companies from paying doctors directly to promote products. Patients expect and deserve an unbiased opinion from their health care provider. The speaking fees were an end run around those restrictions.
“That, your honor, is the very core of corruption,” Jennings told Lasnik.
The speaking engagements were held off VA property outside of work hours, but Advanced BioHealing “lured VA physicians and clinicians to attend by supplying all invited guests with free meals at expensive restaurants.”
Advanced BioHealing paid VA doctors $1,500 a day to allow sales reps to accompany them as they treated veterans at VA facilities, according to charging papers. Doctors were paid $3,000 to provide “sales training” to Advanced BioHealing staff, the prosecutors continued, and $2,000 to serve on an “advisory board.”
Full Article At: https://www.seattlepi.com/seattlenews/article/Pharma-VA-Bribery-Seattle-12581267.php
Tom Price Was Fired Over Misusing Taxpayer Funds. Now Another Trump Secretary Is Under Fire For Using Taxpayer Funds On His Wife
By Jack Crowe
Daily Caller
02/12/2018
“Department of Veterans Affairs investigators are expected to accuse Secretary David Shulkin of a range of ethics violations including improperly accepting Wimbledon tickets and using public funds to pay for his wife’s international air travel.
A VA Inspector General report should be released this week but some of its particulars can be construed from a rebuttal drafted by Shulkin’s attorney and obtained by USA TODAY.
Shulkin will likely be accused of accepting Wimbledon tickets from an individual who did not have business before the VA, but who could not properly qualify as a personal friend. His lawyers also anticipate he’ll be accused of improperly classifying a European trip due to the amount of leisure time Shulkin and his wife enjoyed.
The rebuttal accuses government investigators of “presenting a one-sided version of events,” in their rebuttal.
“The draft report ignores critical facts, presenting a one-sided version of events that casts aside evidence contradicting your chosen narrative,” Shulkin’s lawyers, Justin Shur, Eric Nitz, and Emily Damrau, wrote.
“And it imposes subjective and arbitrary criteria for evaluating the propriety of the Secretary’s actions,” the attorneys added.
Shulkin’s defense team claims the couple engaged in sightseeing at their own expense in the four days between official meetings in Denmark on July 14 and London on July 18, adding that Shulkin’s wife’s airfare was approved by VA ethics officials absent a request from Shulkin himself.
“In fact, Secretary Shulkin and Dr. Bari were prepared to pay for Dr. Bari’s travel as they always had done previously,” they wrote. “It was only when staff approached the Secretary to suggest Dr. Bari’s travel could be reimbursed that Secretary Shulkin became aware that was a possibility.”
Full Article At: https://dailycaller.com/2018/02/12/david-shulkin-misued-taxpayer-funds-wife/
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Essentially– Shyster Shulkin is pulling a Comey on Trump. His attorneys are leaking the news stories just before the truth comes out to put a crooked angle on it.
Veterans Administration Social Worker demonstrates her VA Skills. No longer is the term going postal going to be much of a threat. But the term going VA on your as is going to be the new terror threat.
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Memphis VA employee arrested for threats made against multiple people including children
By: Marius Payton
Fox 13 Memphis
Updated: Feb 12, 2018 – 10:28 PM
“MEMPHIS, Tenn. – After being arrested for threats made against multiple people including children, an employee of the Memphis VA Medical Center could soon be out of a job.
FOX13 has learned the employee who made these threats against a former boyfriend works with patients at the VA.
FOX13’s Marius Payton checked Monday morning and found the employee, Dominique Reeder, was still working there.”
But after reading the affidavit of complaint against Reeder and seeing the multiple threats she’s accused of making, threats to kill family members and the children of her former boyfriend’s new girlfriend, the VA is looking to hold her accountable for her actions.”
But after reading the affidavit of complaint against Reeder and seeing the multiple threats she’s accused of making, threats to kill family members and the children of her former boyfriend’s new girlfriend, the VA is looking to hold her accountable for her actions.
The affidavit against Dominique Reeder shows a trail of domestic abuse.
On January 5th, she goes to an old boyfriend’s house uninvited and refused to leave until police are called. Before they arrived, she vows to call him until he was dead and threatened to have his family killed.
Just 3 days later, she went to the same house and threatened to kill his new girlfriend and her children.
Reeder eventually admitted to police that she went to her ex’s house without permission, called him in excess of 70 times and admitted to police that she wanted him dead.
All of these actions coming from a social worker who deals closely with patients every day at the Memphis VA Medical Center.
We called the Memphis VA for comment and they pointed us to the Department of Veteran Affairs in Washington. A spokesperson for VA Secretary David Shulkin told us this:
“Today, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced that it will be taking immediate steps to propose the termination of a Memphis VA Medical Center employee for illegal threats….This behavior is not in line with the norms and values of the VA. VA will be initiating the process for removal from employment.”
Congressman Steve Cohen has been watching the Memphis VA closely after several FOX13 investigations have revealed inappropriate behavior by multiple VA employees, including Brittney Lowe, who was arrested and did jail time for 3 DUI’s and still managed to keep her job.”
Full News Report At: https://www.fox13memphis.com/top-stories/memphis-va-employee-arrested-for-threats-made-against-multiple-people-including-children/698776263
Former VA head turd still floating around the Cesspool comes up to help other turds continue the stink at the VA.
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In a Letter to the Editor at the Washington Post in a save the turds rant.
“Firing this public servant would do a disservice to veterans”
Regarding Thomas Murphy and was written by a former VA Assistant Deputy Secretary Edward F. Meagher.
Total Stink-age At: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/firing-this-public-servant-would-do-a-disservice-to-veterans/2018/02/12/3ae4d322-0f38-11e8-a68c-e9374188170e_story.html
Federal agency hits VA for unfair barriers to organ transplant
Report to the President warns that whistleblower complaints about life-threatening delays exposed in a KARE 11 investigation have not been addressed.
The Most Excellent Team at KARE 11 News
Author: A.J. Lagoe, Steven Eckert
February 12, 2018
“A scathing report by the government watchdog agency assigned to investigate whistleblower complaints accuses the Department of Veterans Affairs of failing to properly address systemic flaws that limit access to life-saving organ transplants for veterans nationwide.
Although the VA investigated problems raised by a VA whistleblower, the watchdog agency concluded the VA’s “findings do not appear reasonable.”
In a letter sent directly to President Trump, Special Counsel Henry J. Kerner wrote that the VA did not address “significant hardships and barriers to care” faced by veterans needing transplants.
The allegations by VA whistleblower Jamie McBride were first brought to light in a joint investigation by KARE 11 and other TEGNA television stations in 2016. The investigation documented how sick veterans were being forced to travel long distances to get their operations, sometimes with deadly consequences.
RELATED: Watch the original investigation
“How many patients do you think unnecessarily died?” McBride was asked.
“Thousands,” he replied.
McBride has direct experience with the VA Transplant Program as manager of solid organ transplants at the VA hospital in San Antonio, Texas.
Instead of allowing veterans to get transplants at local hospitals, VA rules often require veterans to travel hundreds of miles across the country to special VA facilities, resulting in hardships and delays.
McBride provided KARE 11 with records showing he had been sounding the alarm to officials in Washington about deadly delays in the VA’s transplant program.
“The problems have not been solved. Period,” he said at the time.”
“Medical studies document problems
Recent research by experts at the Cleveland Clinic and the University of Pennsylvania backed up much of what McBride disclosed.
Veterans who rely on the VA for kidney transplants are less likely to actually receive a transplant — and more likely to die waiting — compared with other patients in need of the same surgery, according to findings released in November by Dr. Joshua Augustine of the Cleveland Clinic.”
Full Article and News Report At: https://www.kare11.com/article/news/investigations/federal-agency-hits-va-for-unfair-barriers-to-organ-transplant/89-517931636
Prior Related Report by KARE 11 News Team :
Distance, delays and denial: The VA organ transplant system
“Sick veterans are being forced to travel more than a thousand miles for care. In many cases that distance proves to be a daunting barrier between those who have served, and the organ transplants they need to survive”
Author: A.J. Lagoe and Steve Eckert
Published: 4:28 PM CST November 30, 2016
At: https://www.kare11.com/article/news/investigations/distance-delays-and-denial-the-va-organ-transplant-system/299641309
More Fall out at the VA over crooked Cerner $14 Billion sole source contract that was created by Shyter Shulkin and Thomas Murphy.
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Veterans Affairs Senior Advisor to the Secretary Joins PenFed Credit Union
Matthew S. Collier to serve as Vice President of Business Development
PENFED logo. (PRNewsFoto/PENFED)
News provided by
PenFed Credit Union
Feb 12, 2018
“Mr. Collier joins PenFed from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs where he served as Senior Advisor to the Secretary. Among his many accomplishments was the development and launch of the VA Center for Strategic Partnerships with the purpose of developing sustainable partnerships to improve the lives of veterans and their families.
During his more than 30-year career, Mr. Collier served as President and Chief Executive of publicly traded and privately held companies in the technology and software industries where he consistently grew sales, achieving significant revenue gains and business profitability. Following his service as an Infantry Officer in the United States Army, Mr. Collier served as Chief of Staff for a Member of Congress and was then elected Mayor and Chief Executive Officer of the City of Flint, Michigan.”
Full Article At: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/veterans-affairs-senior-advisor-to-the-secretary-joins-penfed-credit-union-300596575.html
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He got the boot at the same time Thomas Murphy is being pushed out. Maybe some one should send him a few gallons of Water from Flint MI.
VA watchdog to say Shulkin improperly used taxpayers’ dollars: report
By Jacqueline Thomsen
The Hill
02/12/18
“The Department of Veterans Affairs will find that VA Secretary David Shulkin acted improperly when he spent taxpayer dollars on his wife’s flights and accepted tickets to Wimbledon during a European trip last summer, USA Today reported Monday.
USA Today obtained a copy of Shulkin’s lawyers’ rebuttal to the inspector general’s report, which is set to be released later this week.
The attorneys called the watchdog report unfair and inaccurate.
“The draft report ignores critical facts, presenting a one-sided version of events that casts aside evidence contradicting your chosen narrative,” the lawyers wrote, according to USA Today.
The VA inspector general’s office declined to comment to USA Today.
The investigation was opened into the agency head after The Washington Post reported last year that Shulkin and his wife had gone shopping and sightseeing while he was in Europe for a conference in London and meetings in Denmark.
Shulkin’s wife’s airfare was paid for by the government and she also received a per diem for meals during the trip. A VA spokesperson told the Post at the time that the cost of her flights was covered because she was traveling on “approved invitational orders.”
The document authored by Shulkin’s attorneys reveals that inspectors found that his wife’s airfare shouldn’t have been approved by ethics officials or paid for by the VA.
And the report also found that the couple might have improperly accepted tickets to Wimbledon from an individual who may not have been a personal friend.
A strategic adviser to the Invictus Games UK, Victoria Gosling, had given the couple the tickets. She had said in an affidavit that she considers the Shulkins friends, but couldn’t remember Shulkin’s wife’s name when asked by investigators.”
“The investigators unexpectedly called me on my mobile phone whilst I was driving on a very busy highway,” Gosling wrote. “Given the nature of the interview, I felt flustered and could not remember Merle’s name.”
The couple had stayed in Europe for four days between the end of the conference in London and before the meetings in Denmark. Shulkin’s lawyers claim that it would have been more expensive for the couple to fly back and forth between the two events.
However, the VA investigators found that the Shulkins’ trip might not have been considered “essential travel” according to a rule implemented by Shulkin weeks before the trip. The report also finds that the secretary improperly had agency staff arrange sight-seeing trips for the couple.
Shulkin’s legal team dismisses the findings in the rebuttal, calling it “beyond obvious” that the trip counted as “essential travel.”
Full Article At: https://thehill.com/news/administration/373524-va-watchdog-to-say-agency-head-improperly-used-taxpayers-dollars-during-europe
________________________________
Oh and Shulkin, “Your F???”
Just as I have said repeatedly many times, ie; my personal experiences with the VA system is with the ENTRY LEVEL CLERKS, and their IMMEDIATE BOSSES. All my experiences with VA Cares, physicians, technicians, nurse etc. have been second to none.
It has ALWAYS been dificult to process appointments, etc. wth the CLERKS, that carry on a SUPERIOR , and ARROGANT ATTITUDE. Those PROBLEM people are causing the VA Care to have a poor reputation, not the professional staff.
Those would be gum-chomping, indifferent attitude free-range dues-paying AFGE members you speak of.
BullShit Troll!!!
No self respecting qualified doctors work for the VA. The majority of the doctors working for the VA are J1 visa doctors with Bachelor level degrees not Doctoral degrees.
Unless you want to count the pretend doctors including nurses, pharmacist and physicians assistants that have replaced primary care doctors. Or even count the Max Head Room monitors as doctors and Physicians.
An interesting fact. Currently there are 47,000 doctors from India alone that are practicing medicine in the United States. They only needed to complete a 4 year degree program in India or buy a fake degree off the black market to move to the U.S. and start working as a Doctor.
Most are employed by Government Agencies both state and federal here in the U.S..
A couple of prime examples are the husband and wife team that were Chief of Staff and Chief of surgery at Roseburg VAMC.
There was a husband and wife team at a local VA Medical Center where I use to receive services in the past. This practice must be quite common. And, as I recall, this coupled team had their own click in place (why of course, why wouldn’t they), and other Physicians didn’t go against either of them, even though it was the husband that was the lead Physician in the Treatment Team that I was assigned too. And they were from India as well. Must be common knowledge, and used by many from India to gain entrance into US. Just saying, cause it is happening.
GP, do you mean the professional staff throughout the VA that benefit from bonuses by committing fraud with those secret wait lists? Those are not clerks getting big bonuses, but professional staff looking the other way when the director gets a bonus.
How about the professional staff doctor in Iowa who performed brain surgery 4 times before killing the vet? The doctor who had his licensed revoked in another state, but whose credentials were verified by other professional staff at the VA.
Or do you mean the many professional staff doctors throughout the VA that conduct their own Looney version of medical research and either are fired after killing vets, or get rich off their VA research by selling the drug created in the VA after claiming they own the patent?
Or do you mean the professional staff like Tom Burch who worked in the VA office of general counsel while running the worst veterans charity ever and drove a Rolls Royce?
Go piss up a rope.
@Gennaro Pupa- WRONG!!! VA Physicians have violated the VA’s Mission Statement, the Patient Engagement Practices, the Pain Management Policy, the Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT) Guidelines, and my disability rights, not only as a Veteran, but a human being, receiving medical care from these fucking quacks. Take this back to your professional troops at your VA facility.
Off topic: I just received a letter on 2/9/18 from a billing company showing a statement of zero balance. The original charges were for xrays and an MRI. The xrays were done in March 2016, and the MRI done in March 2017.
The VA “did the right thing” almost 2 years after the service was provided and paid the bill.
In reality, they “did the right thing” after I made several phone calls, with 1 of those calls being to the WH hotline. Calls that were made after the billing company sent me a letter saying they were turning the issue over to collections. Their 3 prior attempts at getting paid were ignored.
It’s becoming quite clear that upper management needs be fired and hire ethical managers that will not abuse our Veteran’s for the purposes of earning incentive benefits. There is no excuse for this behavior. Perhaps it’s time to eliminate incentive pays as they seem to ‘entice’ illegal behaviors.
@Earl Thompson- I believe the VA’s performance bonus system does indeed encourage lackadaisical behavior and wait lists because in their sick-ass minds they think if they P-R-O-L-O-N-G the benefits application process and appeal process, nevermind access to care…by delaying such basic, fair deal promise by our service to USA, in their minds they are providing their own job security.
As long as Uncle Sam keeps sending humans to war at the beckoning of fat piggies with fatter stogies and wallets under the idea of “democracy”, that AFGE job security is not the issue…it’s the lackadaisical asses gaming the performance bonus system.
The AFGE must go. No way around it. Banished. Hear that ‘little’ Cox?
Just another ploy from the shitheads in AFGE to justify their tit feeding federal jobs. Choice program is like kryptonite to them.
FUCK VA, FUCK AFGE
Burnam is a liar. Shocking, I know.
If those veterans were clearly opting for VA only care, it would be noted in their medical records, and Burnam would have readily provided the number of veterans who had gotten care since the wait list was created. If that was done, there would have been no need whatsoever for any kind of written wait list.
He is also a liar as shown by the 33 who immediately opted for care once they were finally contacted. Of the 23 remaining, I don’t trust a liar to explain why those 23 did not get care. Were those 23 offered care within 1 week after being called? Could the VA even contact those 23? How many of the 23 didn’t respond because they were dead?
Burnam is also a liar as shown by the 19 given remedial training. Unless the VA is stomping on these poor employees for “doing the right thing”. Why would the AFGE stand for their members being accused of needing retraining if they were doing the right thing?
Its unfortunate the reporter acting as a VA stenographer didn’t advertise wanting to talk to any veteran affected by this fraud. Pictures of old vets with glasses wrapped in white tape wouldn’t have looked good for Burnam. Stories of vets without any glasses and unable to see clearly without them wouldn’t look good for a liar.
Dirtbag should be fired immediately for say
If do right thing! I have big problems and have no idea where or what to do. These people are 10x worse than can imagine
Great more evasive bundling by the VA, how stupid can this agency be and continue to treat Veterans like this, it’s not right but continues to treat our Veterans like they don’t matter, evidently the system is broken, Trump’s administration needs to clean the swamp with these DUMBASS administrators at the VA and save it from lazy ass people who couldn’t find their behinds without a road map
“Don Burman, director of the VA Nebraska Western Iowa Health Care System, spun the incident to the Omaha World-Herald saying the employees were just trying to “do the right thing” by not processing the appointment requests. Burnam said the veterans request the care only from their facility and chose to not receive non-VA care on the spot.”
Excuse me? So then “the right thing” is to “round file” the veterans request for healthcare? All these veterans would choose to be seen at the VA facility vice being seen faster and (most likely) more professionally from an “outside” doctor?
I do not think so. Surprise! Surprise! VA Lies, VA Denies! VA will let many veterans die . . .
POTUS Trump wants to build a wall to keep illegals out. Seems to me that many VA employees do much more damage to our country than the vast majority of illegals . . .
IT IS NOW FIFTEEN YEARS PAST TIME TO FIX THE DAMN BROKEN VA:
1. IMMEDIATELY recognize the problems inherent in the VA are SYSTEM-WIDE across the nation, not just limited to a few select locations.
2. Fire all the Lazy No Good Workers. Fire EVERY single AFGE/SES Employee.
3. Sell off all the VA facilities. Alternatively, they may be converted into military barracks-style housing for homeless veterans.
4. Issue all veterans a card that allows them to choose their own doctors within their community that they can TRUST.
5. The United States Government will PAY those doctors promptly (Within 45 days) for the care they provide veterans.
6. ELIMINATE the “Federal Protection” Umbrella for incompetent QUACKS that the VA sends to other states to practice other than their own. Going to practice in XX state? You need to be LICENSED in XX state.
7. Any claim a veteran submits to the VBA that requires more than 90 days to adjudicate, is automatically found to be in favor of the veteran. If a VBA claim filed by a veteran is found to be a false one designed to scam the system, the VA will have to prove in civil court that a false claim was intentionally submitted.
8. All veterans will be allowed to seek/retain the services of a Veterans Rights Attorney from their first initial contact with the VA.
9. No AFGE, nor any other Labor Union business will be allowed to take place in any Federal Workplace. Conducting Union Business during working hours will be STRICTLY PROHIBITED, and will be STRICTLY ENFORCED.
Should any government employee be found violating this provision, it will result in IMMEDIATE LIFETIME DISMISSAL FROM ANY/ALL GOVERNMENTAL EMPLOYMENT.
10. Attorneys for appeal will be retained at the former employee’s PERSONAL expense. U. S. Taxpayer’s will not be subject to payment of legal bills for incompetent or dishonest personnel with regards to Governmental Employment.
You have my contact information Mr. President. Call me anytime. I have a lot of ideas to help this nation improve the services provided to my fellow veterans. The ones that were promised, but have yet to be delivered upon. Veterans have been waiting for over fifty years for the fulfillment of those promises. I will not hesitate to speak up at all.
For my fellow veterans who have been ill-served by this DERAILED CLUSTERFUCK of a GOD AWFUL TRAIN WRECK CALLED THE VA over the years:
Our battles overseas were far less stressful than our war here at home. Never Cruel or cowardly. Never Give Up. Never Give In. We are on the Righteous path.
POTUS Reagan broke up PATCO in the ’80’s. Time for POTUS Trump to break up the AFGE. The vast majority of our current Congress Critters do NOT have Veterans Interests at heart. Perhaps their replacements will. VOTE OUT all these WORTHLESS BASTARDS.
Give their replacement’s one term to take care of Veterans who put aside their own personal lives to answer this nation’s call when she needed them. Many of those Veterans suffer the remainder of their lives for doing what most of their countrymen had not the courage to do.
If they cannot MUSTER THE STONES to do it properly – – – vote their worthless asses out as well. Party should NOT MATTER. What SHOULD MATTER is their VOTING RECORDS ON VETERANS ISSUES.
Rhetoric is cheap. Congressional Voting Records speak louder than words.
NO Combat Veteran should be surprised when the next McVeigh, Congressional Baseball Team, or Las Vegas Sniper Incident occurs. Bound to happen. Just a matter of time . . .
We have now reached the next accelerative phase of our country falling apart. Country before Party. Principles before Personalities. Always.
Want to REALLY fix the VA? The next SecVA needs to be a former Enlisted Man brought in from the general veteran population with a few serious axes to grind against the VA and the AFGE, with zero previous governmental civilian service.
Apparently, Former Flag Officers and SES appointed Civilians can’t cut the
mustard . . .
Maybe a SINCERELY MOTIVATED Gunnery Sergeant or Chief Petty Officer CAN.
Disgruntled Veteran
1973 – 1976 USMC
1978 – 1993 USN
Wounded Warrior
Honolulu, Hawaii
@JC
Pick me. I held neither of the two military ranks yoummention but I bet I qualify for the other qualifications.
I am sure that you do, Sir.
Never mentioned it, but there are a few folks (You are one) here, who I think would be able to accomplish a HUGE turnaround as to how veterans are treated by the VA (Nation-wide) within a two year period.
Of course, prior to taking that job – – – the sane ones would require a signed, blank Presidential Pardon in advance. You know, because some of these fat-cat civs and veterans (who have forgotten what Honor is) will require some Old School methods to effectively “re-educate” them on just what the VA’s purpose truly should be.
You and I are not that far apart in our years of initial service. So we understand that the Corps and the Navy have been extremely “watered down” in their Basic Training (Both Officers and Enlisted) over the years since we graduated. Some of the training methods we underwent were not PC, but the vast majority of them were effective – – – and cemented the tone of our moral character for the remainder of our lives.
And THAT is what the VA requires a huge infusion of – – – Proper Moral Character.
Total respect to you, Sir.
Semper Fi, and (if memory serves correctly) a proper Marine salute.
I think a blank pardon is too much to ask which proves I am not sane. It was sanity that got us here, right? I think for me a Presidential Pardon limited only to incidents involving water driven organic waste fertilizer cannons, heretofor referred to as “poop cannons” would pretty much cover all needed legal forgiveness.
At least in phase one….
“Semper Fi” would be the name of phase two.
And for you – – – you should be granted the “Poop Cannon” Pardon.
Were it me – – – I would require the blank pardon due to the fact that I would need to protect my “Organizational Rehab Team” as well as myself.
There exists training (I am sure you are aware) within the U.S. Military wherein volunteers are water-boarded, and subjected to some forceful interrogation techniques – – – prior to graduation, and subsequent deployment overseas.
More than a few of those training techniques would be appropriate for the reeducation of VA employees.
What does not kill you, makes you stronger.
Whoops! Had to edit due inadvertent posting before finished. I would NEVER subject another human being to a training method that I have either not undergone, or be willing to undergo.
haven’t seen a doctor at a VAMC in years. If I can’t get non-VA “Choice” I do without.
Hehe, VA D.C. dragged Roseburg kicking and screaming into providing services for me. It only took 17 requests, 5 electronic scheduling attempts, and six calls to the hotline to get a call from……
wait for it……
A man calling at the request of Roseburg Disruptive Behavior Committee called to tell me that they requested him to arrange “something” lolz.
Once the scarlet letter is painted on your back at VA Roseburg it is hard to wash off…. but, they are doing the right thing right? Heheheheeeee it was almost worth it just to hear that VA D.C. kicked the DBC in the ass. Remember I have no cat one PRF assigned to me.
LOLZ I gotta share this! Just minutes now after the last call from Mr. DBC I began getting emails. I signed up for email notifications now available for appointment requests. I had a total of seven requests dating back a month or more and each sent me a notification just now in rapid fire lolz!
They are just doing the right thing – they didn’t refuse these scheduled visits at all lolz…. I requested they cancel them but from the future and my proof is these seven notifications; Do I smell poo at every VA good deed or what?
Here is the email that gets sent;
“Based upon your request during a telephone call, this appointment has been cancelled.”
Ben, you have the two calls I got from them. Did I say anything about cancelling lolz? Tell me why what they did to me is not the equivelent of a DBC wait list? It IS IN EVERY RESPECT a secret wait list.
How many more unflagged vets are also not getting appointments because of a DBC wait list??? Seems pretty relevent to me.
Gee Dennis. How would 7 notifications show up if you were referred to Choice?
When I asked the Choice administrator what the stated qualifier was for why they qualified me for Choice since I live only a few miles away from the clinic they said, “They (Roseburg VA) state services are unavailable locally.”
Now the services have suddenly reappeared almost as if they were always there….
hmmmm. Obviously another lie on an official federal form done for the good of the team…
Good point Dennis. Did they notify you who your PCP would be since they suddenly discovered these other services?
Have VA D.C. give Roseburg another kick every chance you get. Eventually, their deafness will lessen . . .
HA! Good for you Dennis. The snakes are running for the tall grass, so they have some guy completely out of the loop call you about…something.
Gutless cowards.
Darn it Ben, it is not a secret if you tell everyone………
Is it just me or does Ben’s “Bad VA Art” today show a building that almost looks like a miniature prison guard tower model? Might just be me.
To me it looks more like just another Strip Mall that was build using Taxpayer money to build a VA Clinic. No doubt they will have their VA MaxHeadRoom Health Clinic repurposed in Five Years. I can see they are already leasing some of the store space.
The only question is which Congressperson or Senator owns the Trust that owns the Strip Mall?
Right…and that “Bordy’s men’s clothing” shown in strip mall nested right to the VA Clinic *may* also have sole contracts for making VA Mental Health Hack Straightjackets. Maybe even body bags? Or not related in the least but share same landlord, who happens to be related to…? (wait for it)
When you use Google maps to view the place with their street View function you can see that the store on the left is a Rent A Center and on the right is the Bordy’s men’s clothing.
The Address is 710 S 13th St, Norfolk, NE 68701. No Doubt the clinic is big enough to house a reception desk and a good 10′ by 10′ waiting area along with maybe a couple of tiny rooms in the back where they set up the TeleMed Equipment.
Although I kind of doubt they have enough room for a bathroom so you might want to go before you get there.
Not to worry about the staff they can lunch down at the DQ at the other end of the strip mall. Just got to go past Bordy’s, the UPS store, The Dollar Store and the mailboxes Plus.
Why is the VA building strip malls with clinics? Is it so they can promote the VA MaxHeadRoom Health Care System?
I guess after they replaced doctors with nurses now they need to replace the nurses with MaxHeadRoom.
Honestly, who out there is foolish enough to trust there Health care to a MaxHeadRoom store in a strip mall surrounded by a trail park to provide their Health Care?
Anybody?
I’m surprised ZZZ Accounting isn’t in that strip mall with a body broker next door.
-next to the cement shoes shop.
Seymore,
There’s a small, and I do mean small, vha clinic in Orange City, FL. which is rented.
Here’s the deal. The clinic is located in the rear of a building owned by a druggist which has a drug store. (Can’t remember their names right now!)
There’s also another business within the building.
The cost of renting the rear area is, according to (possible) a source is $1 million/year.
This clinic has very few employees. It does have a “lab”! Only the lab is “subcontracted”!
Oh, and it does have a few working in another area on “mental health” issues!
That’s it! T-T-T-That’s all [there is], folks!
@Crazy elf- “[…That’s it! T-T-T-That’s all [there is], folks!]”
I can imagine at the end of every VA Telemedicine Mental Health Hack Session there’s an automatic signoff with ‘Porky Pig’ doing his classic one liner as you so rightly stated.
The Mental Health Telemedicine Session would start with an automatic sign-on animation of that classic “Coo Coo Puffs Bird”, ‘going crazy for Cocoa Puffs’…
I thought the same thing, and chuckled out loud when I first saw the artwork accompanying the article. Prison Watchtower indeed . . .
Two articles out from;
“Military.com”
1.
“VA Memo Nixes Plan to Shift Funding for Homeless Veterans”
“Stars and Stripes”
10 Feb. 2018
By: Nikki Wentling
2.
“Over 133,000 Veterans Who Got Military Disability Are Due Tax Refunds”
“Military.com”
8 Feb 2018
By: Jim Absher
Two articles y’all should read!!!!
Allow me to make things short and sweet, because like the VA, I wish to only “do the right thing”, and the sick legion of swine called the VA is SO sick with corruption they require being put out of OUR misery…again, I’m sure am “doing the right thing” by administering the poison shaped like pearls to be thrown to the AFGE legion of swine.
Again, am only “doing the right thing”, and even The Bible warns of “throwing pearls to swine”…nothing in there stating those “pearls” absolutely have to be actual pearls when you can utilize ricin instead. Done. No waitlist for your deaths, just step right up and take your medicine and allow us to add you to the list of deceased assholes. Done.
Damn, I thought “…there’s a “Lens Crafters” on every corner!” Or, something like that, lololol…..
When is “Shyster Shithead Shulkin” going to grow some balls and fire these reprobate employees?
Here’s an idea.
We now know a Mayor, if they have influential people in power; ie: Congressmen and women, can stop VA upper management from relocating to their districts! What else can Mayor’s do? Can a Mayor refuse other issues with VA? Can a Mayor instruct his police department to insure his/her citizens/veterans are safe by insuring the VA employees are NOT on illicit drugs? You know, random drug testing?!
If a Mayor has the balls to stop a VA director from entering his city limits, just how much power do Mayor’s really have??????
I just watched the Nat’l news & they had a Stockton, CA mayor that’s only in his mid-20’s and fresh from Stanford, and guess what he’s doing?
In Stockton, CA they are giving $500. a month free, no strings attached nor any requirements…all for “income disparity” to known gang members and felons.
Stockton, CA mayor also is giving tax-free stipends to newly released thugs from prison…again, no strings attached.
NO MENTION of helping homeless veterans in Stockton, CA but if you run with a gang of home invasion specialists, you TOO can also earn a free $500. a month from the idiot taxpayers of California.
IF a “mayor” can brazenly ignore the law and USA Attorney General’s warnings about illegal sanctuary cities and thug stipends…a mayor surely can freely and effectively ignore the VA and help Veterans…as long as you are a felon. WTF?!
@namnibor
I grew up on the edge of a reservation. One of the farms I lived on (my mother married into a large farm family after the splendid marriage between dad and her went south…) bordered tribal lands and for generations the step family farm house was open to native Americans who needed a meal or even a place out of the cold. My high school mascot is The White Buffalo and is revered and not mocked as a cartoon.
I have read much of what was written from Native American chiefs and captured as essays as the tribes became exterminated or diluted in order to assimilate into the new version of the world.
One COMMON observation by the great chiefs was how the white man and the indian differered in their views of leadership. The indians observed that in their culture the youth would always seek out the elders for guidance about life matters. They saw the opposite in the white man – in our culture the youth tend to instruct the elders in the way the world is and the way it should be. This young mayor is an example of what ancient and happy cultures observed before the white man “civilized” them all.
With respect in a sense I disagree with this sentence in a technical matter and hope for clarification. I think we share the sentiment but there is a technicality that clouds my certainty because there is at least some logic to the idea that an illegal act can be seen as “doing the right thing”;
“Do we ever believe VA employees were trying to “do the right thing” when intentionally engaging in an illegal act? How ridiculous.”
I am just a kooky guy who spends a LOT of time researching ideas regarding VA and how they can be handled. I agree whole heartedly with the sentiment Ben, but here is my take on why it is nearly impossible to sue a VA guy for breaking the law IF they were “trying to do the right thing”. Your post is not about suing but it is the notion of “the right thing” I am addressing with an example of lawsuits against VA folks who break the law.
I read that the law essentially concludes that EVEN if the employee of any compnay knowingly lies, cheats, or engages in illegal acts that if they believe those acts are in the best interests of their employer then by some twisted logic it is concluded that they did (or wanted to do) the right thing by their employer. So when you walk in to JC Penney for example and somebody lies to you about a product to sell it for the company, then you cannot sue them personally because by legal standard they did the right thing in helping their employer. So then culpability falls to the benefactor of the wrongdoing – the employer and not the employee. You could only sue JC Penney in this scenario but not the lieing employee who believed the lie was the right thing to do for the company.
My understanding, Ben, is that this is why when VA nurse Jane lies, or cheats, or commits wrongdoing it is so bloody tough to sue her for it. Even when fully validated as say an abuse of authority, if the person believed it helped VA then they “did the right thing” by their employer by helping them. So then when you think you are suing Nurse Jane who lied for VA you find out you end up suing the Attorney General instead. This immediately makes it null and void owing to Executive Priveledge. At least that is the path of logic as I understand it.
To me this has a certain logic when applied to say, Macy’s, or Sears, or any number of employers but then I run into that thing called Equal Protections under the law. I mean for an identical act having identical repercussions (a lie that leads to death for instance) one employer can be sued and the other not. Lawsuits, like it or not, create a GREAT deal,of expense for companies and so by this reason alone companies police their crew vigorously to avoid suit. It is the expense of wrongdoing that motivates companies as a whole to do the right thing and this means jettison the bad people in the crew.
The employer VA cannot be motivated like all other non VA companies that provide healthcare services. Poor performance or illegal acts simply do not carry economic consequences for the team as a whole or for any individual as a rule and worse still it is cheaper to pay bad employees to leave VA than it is to pay for months of litigation over it. It is even cheaper to keep bad employees on! Think about it.
The right thing to do is get VA out of providing healthcare at all. The inability to hold them financially accountable in a way that effects change is core to why they behave they way they do.
@Dennis,
You should consider doing an op-ed for Washington Examiner, your points are spot on with factual rebuttals. Some newspaper/digital media outlets in some areas appear to be in cahoots with VA.
Even Military dot com has interviewed the Wilmington VA director in a different light, titled “From Paratroopers to Rockets”, totally ignoring her history.
“https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.military.com/veteran-jobs/search/aerospace-defense-jobs/from-paratroopers-to-rockets.html/amp&ved=2ahUKEwi7rp70sKDZAhUFmVkKHQLwANIQFjAEegQIBhAB&usg=AOvVaw3ejN_FxtKbrS3ncpN8UPli&cf=1”
This Tunabeast comes from VISN 4 under legionella man Michael Moreland who recieved the 64,000 bonus simultaneous with a legionella outbreak in Pittsburgh and Wilmington.
The Secretary , including all three Delaware representatives were mum on her transfer.
“https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/2016/11/03/ousted-va-director-takes-job-nasa/93240026/”
Utter bullshit from VA, Military dot com and many paid off components operating in the background. That’s why on this site, you will see occasional commenters trying to infiltrate this site, as though they are down with the cause.
Fuck the VA in all aspects of fucking, fuckers!
CU, your comment about military dot com reminds me of an Army Times reporter from years ago…Debbie somethingorother.
She liked getting good articles on veterans and pushed the envelope on some, but not many. Several of her articles were similar to those found anywhere else, but she often had first person quotes and spin with hers because she had access. There were some stories she would not write, no matter what evidence was provided or how many others wrote about it…she would not write those stories because she wanted to preserve her access.
Military dot com is the same. Not only wanting to protect whatever access they have, but their parent company would want to protect whatever contracts they have or could get.
They are a division of Monster Worldwide…with contracts worldwide.
91, I see!
Monster owns the job search site. It makes sense now because they get kickbacks for job referrals and don’t want to disturb the gravy train.
It is just ridiculous how these companies try to be military eccentric but ignore realities of soldier’s plight.
We are soldiers first , veterans second.
The military instinct always kicks in first.
For those who do not defend being a soldier first, never really was one in the first place, they just skated through.!
CU, Monster is truly a worldwide monster. They have job listings sites all over the world, including US, Canada, the UK, India, Germany and the Netherlands.
They are actually a subsidiary of Randstad Holdings.
They were caught up in a stock options scandal several years ago.
They have a significant federal government contract and run USA Jobs.
I don’t know how many companies they might be the parent of…their web site doesn’t have the usual investor information links where you can find info on the company.
It is long past the time when the VA should be using the Donald Trump line from his Apprentice show. The line ‘Your Fired”.
That is for each and every VA employee that knows about and does not report a wait list, works with a waitlist, or even thinks about starting a wait list.
It is totally illegal. Not only fire all employees connected to a wait list but also fire every supervisor of any department and at any level for wait list being used in their departments, facilities or even system.
The I did not know answer is not good enough. They are being paid to know and paid to prevent employees from breaking the law. They need to be publically humiliated and fired with their names published for their corruption and/or their stupidity.
Do you hear that Shysters David Shulkin and Thomas Murphy! Those words that Trump is whispering in your ears. Your Fired!!!
It is the only way to start cleaning up the VA.
You are fired and here is a warrant for your arrest. Read the list of charges on pages 2 through 98. No Bail, sorry, these are serious charges madam/sir.
Yes I am a Lawyer and I am serious; Anyone can be named a prosecutor if the Department of Justice can’t get off of its big fat corrupt ass, right?