Can this help others? "Time is of the essence" An Open Letter from a Fighting Marine

COL Mikel J. Burroughs — Mon, 24 Aug 2015 10:09:51 -0400

Can this help others? "Time is of the essence" An Open Letter from a Fighting Marine (Please see message below from Kimberly)!

By Kim Bolen RN CCM ACM

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/time-essence-open-letter-from-dying-marine-bolen-rn-lnc-acm-ccm?trk=pulse-det-nav_art

A message from Kim Bolen RN CCM ACM

Sir as is the usual, if you believe that this post would help one person, post it.
Michael is my patient, he was the only one that "Came out" and wanted to change things for his brother and sisters in arms. I educated his family on advocating for him and they followed brilliantly. I am still following his medical issues, more closely now. Michael Collins wanted me to post it on Linked in (copy of post provided), so in respect I did.

What I am trying to do with that post, behind closed doors; is have Congress define "wait times" for our vets. I am working on the legislative language, for the 4th time!

Any input would be appreciated.

Response by LTC Stephen F. made Aug 24 at 2015 10:17 AM

LTC Stephen F. — Mon, 24 Aug 2015 10:17:54 -0400

It may help COL Mikel J. Burroughs. Spreading the word can be very beneficial.
Yesterday, a grieving sister told me about her brother dying from MS complications in Petersburg, VA VAMC where he is being treated well I might add.
She asked me to pray for her brother and her family who are grieving. He is unable to speak clearly but has loving family around him. I hope and pray that the Lord bless each veteran who is suffering and dying with somebody to comfort them - friend and family. In those cases where there is nobody else I know the Lord comforts His own.

Response by PV2 Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 24 at 2015 10:21 AM

PV2 Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 24 Aug 2015 10:21:13 -0400

I have to say I'm very dismayed about this. Call me naive, but I just don't understand with all of the recent automation that's been done to streamline the Veteran's experience overall with the VA, how this sort of (please pardon my language) rampant dumbfuckery can be allowed to continue.. Many Veterans are dying before they get the care they so desperately need. I think this is horrendous given the service they have given to their country.
I guess I was naive to think this new director of the VA would actually do some good.

Response by PFC Joseph Levi made Aug 24 at 2015 10:23 AM

PFC Joseph Levi — Mon, 24 Aug 2015 10:23:07 -0400

Here is a fact sheet I got that I will share. I have others but all in PDF form and can't post here and they have Congressional contact info on them, but I can always redact that information. If interested in that info, send me an email at [login to see] .gov

Response by COL Ted Mc made Aug 24 at 2015 12:15 PM

COL Ted Mc — Mon, 24 Aug 2015 12:15:29 -0400

COL Mikel J. Burroughs - Mikel; I have long held that for the government to hold a monopoly on the PROVISION of health care is sheer idiocy as the government has absolutely no incentive to be efficient OR effective.

I have no problem with a "Single Payer / Multiple Provider" health care system because I don't think that there should be a profit made out of collecting insurance premiums (the original insurance companies were "socialist collectives" that didn't make a profit for their "investors" since all their investors were policy holders).

The government CAN be quite efficient at collecting money - and frequently is. The government is efficient at spending money just about as often as it is INEFFICIENT at collecting money.

If the government involvement were limited to setting standards (politicians have a vested interest in seeing that their electorate is receiving benefits) and administering the contracts that had been awarded though competitive bidding whereby private providers actually delivered the health care while the health care providers competed to deliver the same quality care at the lowest realistic prices the effectiveness of the entire health care system would go up.

[To prevent "cherry picking", I envision those contracts covering a reasonably wide geographic area so that there were some "plum" revenue producing areas and some "dog" revenue producing areas. Otherwise no provider would bid on the "dog" revenue producing areas.]

Response by CW4 Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 24 at 2015 1:33 PM

CW4 Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 24 Aug 2015 13:33:34 -0400

COL Mikel J. Burroughs, thanks for sharing. I can't find one reason why this couldn’t help at least one person. Awareness and information is the key. Without accurate information you can't make informed decisions in order to possible affect change.

Response by PO1 John Miller made Aug 27 at 2015 8:58 AM

PO1 John Miller — Thu, 27 Aug 2015 08:58:13 -0400

While my own situation isn't life threatening, it is somewhat similar. I got blood work done about 2 weeks ago at the VA. 3 days ago I went into the clinic to find out the results because no one has called me yet. The person I talked to "put it in the system" and said someone would call me. Still no calls. I'm going to call them today and complain.