The Veterans administration Health Care System just keeps getting Better and Better

While on a trip to California’s Gold Country to gather information on contemporary gold prospectors and its associated cultures, I ran low on a critical cardiac med. Getting refills of any Scrip from my current HMO, Kaiser, is a pain since Kaiser's patients records are not easily accessed from out of the geographic area.
At that point in my four-day trip, I was in Menlo Park, CA,at the US Geological Survey and remembered I had recently begun seeing a Veterans Administration Health Care System cardiologist and had some of my prescriptions transferred to the VA. SO, I took off for Palo Alto, CA’s ,VA medical complex
The first thing you notice about the Palo Alto VA med center is its size But size ,almost always means a large sepersonalized employee workforce. Having never been to the Palo Alto VA, I asked the first person I came to, a caffeine deficient young doc, directions to the pharmacy> he said “follow me” and dropped me off in the waiting room.
It just got better from there. The check-in clerk was a young pharmacist starting her residency and after swiping my VA Med System ID card, she asked what I needed. I told her a four-day supply of my cardiac and PTSD meds. She said, “sit down, your meds will be ready in about 10 minutes.”
On my way out ,I realized I hadn’t had breakfast that morning and followed the signs to the VA complex’s canteen and chowed down on scrambled eggs, a piece of toast and juice for about $2.35.
I thought “Holy Hell, breakfast in Palo Alto for less than three bucks?”
My opinion on the VA has changed radically since my first horrific experience with it as a recent young veteran.
Where it was once impersonal and inconsistent in its delivery of health services, it's now become very personal, easy to use and extremely patient centric.
To put a point on it, I enjoy going to the VA for medical care and trust it implicitly.
Up front, I've had several heart attacks and a run in with a type of cancer directly linked to Agent Orange. And, I have serious PTSD from having gone through a literal siege with hundreds of incoming artillery rounds slamming into the base every day and unwelcome guests loudly knocking on our front gate at Khe Sahn.
All of my recent experiences with the VA has helped me become healthier and much better informed on how I can use VA services to improve my life and my family’s too.
I really didn't bel;ieve or understand that I had PTSD until I flew off the handle one day at a baseball game here in San Diego and they used a concussive pyrotechnic device to mark a home run. I t immediately triggered a flee or fight reflex and I’d read enough about PTSD to know that-- along with my claustrophobia and sense of impending doom when I heard the artillery go off over at nearby Camp Pendleton are signs of PTSD. My town has a VA clinic which I discovered by walking through its front door had a PTSD program. I stopped in, was seen immediately by a caseworker with a Masters in Social Welfare who got me started in a PTSD treatment program. There were 30 others in my group and the program leader, and an RN NP were able to assess everyone in my group.
What i've since discovered is this: the VA’s PTSD treatment program is copied nationwide.
Over three years of participation in the VA’s PTSD program I notice my reactions to artillery noise and machine gun fire is much less severe than it was when I first moved to Escondido.
The VA’s inventory of medical services is incredibly deepl; it's also earned a national reputation for memory care, chemical and alcohol dependency, cardiology, kidney failure and surgical transplantation.
But most of all it’s created a culture that embraces veterans and which results in questions being answered and services being rapidly proffered..
The VA health care system goes very far to reach veterans; examples are its vans and busses that bring patients from far away to medical centers on a regular basis.
‘The Palo \Alto VA, for example, has free transport to and from Merced in California's Central Valley.
Although they are told of VA mEDICAL services as a benefit after discharge,many veterans don’t take advantage of it. In fact any veteran who has been in combat is entitled to five years of VA health coverage.
But when veterans need help, the VA is there with open arms and great services
It’s also a “sharing community where older veterans offer to help younger vets understand how to navigate the system. One morning, while slurping coffee at a local cafe, an older vet noticed me squinting at a newspaper and said “Ya know glasses and eye exams are part of VA care.”
Hallelujah! I was on board.
For my friends who have post 9-11 vets reentering the world, the VA IS there for all veterans and its services are first rate.
The VA is the only national healthcare organization today and it’s a role model for what good medical services can be.Jim Forbes onNovember 26, 2029