But it also should not have taken newspaper articles to bring change to outpatient conditions at Walter Reed. And while filthy conditions at Building 18 are a temporary problem for these veterans, lowball settlements may leave soldiers and their families impoverished for life.
-- Washington Post Editorial, "Rotten Homecoming" -- 21 FEB 07
I find it nearly impossible to explain how this stuff can happen, when family or friends ask. If I'm bitching about how frustrated I am with being denied treatment or only getting it after a 3-year fight, it's understandably bizarre. I got tired of trying, because it always ends up in, "Well why don't you just...(..)?"
Which would work in any OTHER HMO.
And which wouldn't be necessary if more of the leadership were more interested in patient care and troops' well-being, than number-crunching and avoiding conflict with unethical practitioners.
Here's the systematic issue:
The biggest problem is: most of us wounded, maimed or disabled get
stuck at our shitty little "Army Community Hospitals" (ABHs) on our
own posts--away from the specialty clinics, support programs &
publicity of Walter Reed. Honestly, I'm horrified things got so bad
at Walter Reed, thank god for WaPo--but those articles exposed maybe
5% of the systematic failure to do right by injured troops.
It kills me how the Pentagon makes it sound like all "severely
injured" troops are getting care at Walter Reed. Or its sister-Army
Medical Centers (AMCs).
Bullshit--it's where a severely injured troop goes ONLY if he/she's
wicked lucky, Knows Someone or has a dramatic external injury. The
rest of us "severely injured" hospital-bunnies would all but pull out
a buddy's IV to get to Walter Reed. It's like Xanadu, heaven, a place
of wonder.
The difference? At Medical Centers like WallyWorld you get, you
know, medical treatment along with your
moldy/infested/condemned barracks... Rumor has it: the troops are
sometimes even treated like patients instead of weaklings or shitbags.
WOW!
The majority of us-- shrapneled digestive systems, organ failures,
traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord issues, single-arm amputations,
or whatever (even cancer) get scattered around the country, out of the
public eye (i.e., in little army towns with no investigative
reporters). At these ACHs, hospital administrators can deny
treatment, falsify records, or otherwise screw us with no
repercussions that I've seen, ever.
To be fair: most of the people at these Army Community Hospitals on
tactical/"grunt" posts are AWESOME. Many are army wives or formerly
troops themselves. 90%+ are professional, sweet, and busting their
ass to keep things going. They're so exhausted from dealing with
overcrowded clinics and increasingly pissed off patients, I truly
don't know how they stay sane. I submit "Good Job!" reports on them
whenever possible.
The problem, as usual in a bureaucracy, lies with:
A. Pentagon bean-counters (generals or senior civilians)
shortchanging the outlying hospitals to fund whatever rusty-ass
Artillery system got porked in again this year
B. Hospital admin types (senior officers) who pretend everything's
SUPER instead of grabbing their sack and addressing , or
C. A few unithical & power-trippy doctor or nurse (usually one in
charge of a clinic) too senile, incompetent, ambitious or psychotic
for the whole "medical care" thing
Of course, they're the "authority" or "professionals" so they're the
ones who get to give all the official input. We start thinking we're
just crazy, til we figure out the odds of simultaneous, identical mass
hallucinations are slim. Even on wacky pain meds.
I just don't know how to get help for all of us at outlying hospitals.
I've tried. Others here have worn themselves out trying. How do you
raise hell in Pudunk, Kentucky/Tennessee border for Peter's sake. ANY
suggestions would be genuinely appreciated. Congressionals get shot
down as fast as...quail-hunting partners. We're not allowed to sue
for malpractice (not that most of us would...but the threat might help
quality control)
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