VA conceals shoddy care and health workers' mistakes

Speaking as a veteran and current patient under the care of VA, yes. We absolutely do deserve better treatment. There are always going to be problems with inept medical staff (same possibility as any hospital, we just happen to have many, many more hospitals than anyone else... so we'll get our fair share more of bad eggs). If it were any other hospital and it was simply a fiduciary concern... you cut the bad egg to save money from recurring lawsuits. However, it's a government agency. And when you have to deal with government administration and bureaucracy, it can compound the problem. Because you have administrators of varying degrees of trustworthiness, too... combine one bad egg with another, and it becomes a recipe with disastrous results. VA's working to change that from the top down, but that does take time... and the horrible truth is that we'll hear more of these types of stories before those changes can be implemented, much less take hold across the entire agency.

All that said, I'm still a patient because I choose to be. I could get my employee medical insurance and go to private hospital. But I love my VAMC. The caliber of care I receive here has been phenomenal so far, and I don't expect that will change. You hear horror stories from some of the centers, but there are many more out there doing the right thing for their patients, providing the best care they can. You can't paint the entire agency with the same brush.

It depends on what VA facility you are being treated at. I have been treated pretty good at the one I go to . Things are by no means perfect but I believe they are headed in the right direction. Anyone who has served this great nation does deserve better healthcare and treatment.

These malpractices are happening. Who wants to be on the receiving end of something like that? Not me. But, I can attest that being in the VA Healthcare System where there is oversight is safer than what I have experienced and witnessed on the private healthcare side. You think lies and corruption fills the VA (because they are exposed), think about what is happening in the private sector that no one is watching. YOU DONT WANT VA HEALTHCARE TO BECOME PRIVATIZED.