I was just in the VA as an inpatient. They were so understaffed and don't even have all the Dr's they need. I have to go to a teaching hospital just to have colorectal surgery.
The VA has been broken for years. If you are a veteran who goes to the VA for your health care needs, you are aware of this. Instead of fixing what is wrong with the VA, Congress just throws more money at it. With the extra money, the VA goes on a hiring and building spree. Instead of hiring doctors and nurses, they use the extra money to hire support personnel. The most glaring shortage of personnel is with doctors and nurses. They could get more doctors and nurses if they would simply speed up the hiring process. It is not uncommon to take 4-9 months to hire a doctor or nurse. Those people may apply at the VA but after 6 weeks they simply give up and go to another hospital where they can walk in and be working full-time in 7-10 days. Every thing at the VA is antiquated with management that is out of touch. Many VA problems could be solved by Congress if they would hold VA management accountable instead of promoting them and sending them off to another VA hospital down the road.
I was just in the VA as an inpatient. They were so understaffed and don't even have all the Dr's they need. I have to go to a teaching hospital just to have colorectal surgery.
The VA has been broken for years. If you are a veteran who goes to the VA for your health care needs, you are aware of this. Instead of fixing what is wrong with the VA, Congress just throws more money at it. With the extra money, the VA goes on a hiring and building spree. Instead of hiring doctors and nurses, they use the extra money to hire support personnel. The most glaring shortage of personnel is with doctors and nurses. They could get more doctors and nurses if they would simply speed up the hiring process. It is not uncommon to take 4-9 months to hire a doctor or nurse. Those people may apply at the VA but after 6 weeks they simply give up and go to another hospital where they can walk in and be working full-time in 7-10 days. Every thing at the VA is antiquated with management that is out of touch. Many VA problems could be solved by Congress if they would hold VA management accountable instead of promoting them and sending them off to another VA hospital down the road.