Va Seeks Womens Input

[broncovet]

This article points out womens input is sought to improve their services.

http://www.fayobserver.com/articles/2011/07/07/1106977?sac=Local

While I can see the value in asking their opinion about services, it seems rather odd the VA singles out females, asks their opinion, while the other 92% or so of the Veteran population, the men, are not asked a thing about input on our services. I dont think I am being sexist in thinking maybe the men deserve a level of care closer to that the female Vets get.

Not suprisingly, I went with my wife to go to her Docs appointment at the VA. Her waiting room was tastefully decorated, not crowded, with almost no wait time. However, downstairs where I go, there is a crowd of dozens and dozens of Vets, and long waiting lines for just about everything. I get maybe 2 minutes with the doc, and if I forget to tell my doc something...its back in another 45-60 day "line" to wait my turn for an appointment. My wife, however, can get a medical appointment at the Va in way less than a week.

While I am glad my wife gets better medical care than I do, it just would seem to be fairer to other Vets if some of the resources presently used exclusively for female Vets were applied to reduce the wait for male Vets. Gee, I dont care if my doc is female or not, and I dont even care most of the time if she specializes in womens health care, since I think many, if not most of the things about our anatomy are very close to the same. My arthritis in my knees, for example, is probably not a lot different than a woman's arthritis of the knee.

[john999]

Broncovet

I think you stepped in it. I think VA care for women has been awful over the decades. The VA has a lot to answer for. My wife gets champva. She was told there were very few female doctors available to her at my VAMC. They discouraged her from using the VA.

[Testvet]

Bronco, I have to agree with John you have stepped in it here, the VA is a lot better for all veterans than it was 30 years ago and it has always been primarily a service for men, you used to never see female vets at the VA, I think the VA is more interested in hearing from women veterans than CHAMPVA users most VAs won't even see CHAMPVA dependents they don't have room for them is their claim.

I am glad your wife gets first class care, but then again I get first class care at the VAMC I go to, I despise the VARO but the VAMC is excellent as far as my experience goes but then I refuse to go to Dorn VA 10 miles away and I drive to Augusta to be seen at Charlie Norwood and I am sure there are veterans that will say they have gotten lousy medical care at Charlie Norwood given the number of doctors and other medical personnel there some are not as good as others and some have really bad attitudes, I had one Primary Care doc that way about 10 years ago I went to the patient advocate and he talked to the Chief of Clinics and I was transferred to another doctor that didn't consider all Vietnam era vets as "drug seekers" as the first doctor called me he even refused to give me any cough medicine that had alcohol in it talk about attitude problems

[broncovet]

My wife also gets Champva. In other words, she can choose whether to go to the VA for care, or pretty much ANY private care facility (at least any that accept Champva). I do not have those options...I dont have Champva so its the VA or nothing, where my wife can go to pretty much anyplace for medical care. If I had the option my wife has, then I would elect private care also, and take some burden off an already overused VAMC.

I am curious as to why they seek input on womens care and do not for mens.

While I do concur that not all services for females are available at the VA, in a like manner, not all services male Vets need is available either. I assume if female Vets, as well as male Vets need some type of medical care not available at the local VAMC, the VA will pay for it on a fee basis, of course, provided there is a referral by the "gatekeeper", the prime care physician.

While I cant speak for the past, and I also cant speak for other VAMC's, at my VAMC the female Vets have much shorter wait times, both FOR an appointment and when you arrive, there is also a much shorter wait.

Finally, I actually attended one of my wifes counseling sessions, and found them vastly superior to the counseling sessions for male Vets. Again, the waiting room was tastefully decorated, uncrowded, and the wait was almost nil. When you did get to see the counselor, it was apparent they were not trying to rush you out of the office to get to the next patient.

I did not expect that everyone would agree. A good possibility is that many women would not be caught dead in a VA, (possibly from bad past experiences) and therefore there is almost no wait. While many male Vets, too, "dont" use the VA, there are plenty who do to make it very crowded.

If a doc had 100 patients, he would be able to spend a lot more time with them and do a more thorough job than if he had 1000 patients.

Im glad you guys responded and suprised the female Vets did not hurl rotten tomatoes at me for these posts.

[gdsnide]

I've been dealing with the VA for appox. 15 years. I can honestly say "I have not been treated rudely by any VA Docs. But, I am not discourteous to them either. I never give them a hard time & I do have a lot of questions for them that always get answered. If I have any special requests it seems they do all they can to help me. As for over crowding what can one expect for a Medicial establishment that has so many patients. I was even in on the Dental Snafu in St. Louis, Mo & I didn't get excited & start a lot of trouble. I was told to come in & I did & I was checked. As for why is there more men than women at the VA Hopitals my thought is because there are so many more Men in the Miliitary. My Wife has Champ VA & they always pick up part of the bill when she see's a Private doc

Over all I have to say " I have no complaints about VA Medicial Care. I'm aware there can sometimes be a wait once one gets to the VA Hospital but that is common for all Hospital Settings. Also, I have never had any complaints about the Dental care or the eye care I receive

If my Wifes waiting time was shorter & the Waiting Room was neater & less people there than me I would be happy for her & not resentful.

OK...Thats just my Humble Opinion

GARY

[john999]

Bronco

I really think the VA wants imput from women vets because the care has been so bad for so long they want to find out what they can do to fix public relations nightmare. Don't worry! They don't care about your wife any more than they care about you. Really, it is a not a plot against males except in the sense that the bottom line means more than health care to the VA.

[carlie]

I am curious as to why they seek input on womens care and do not for mens.

Im glad you guys responded and suprised the female Vets did not hurl rotten tomatoes at me for these posts.

bronco,

Being that you asked for it > > > SPLAT ! ! !

They are seeking input from the females being that we pretty much were not having

our medical needs met.

Hell - even as little back as the 90's - you'd have to wait months for a PAP smear

to be done and hope like hell the doc would bother even closing the door to the

room, which for me was right at the waiting room.

Don't be thinking female vets are all getting the same timely care you're wife is

because that simply is not true.

I wait in the same waiting rooms most of you dude's are in and with PTSD from MST

it is no fun.

Neither is the F'ing group therapy the VAMC so kindly and the state of the art" care

they provide me with. Group therapy is CO-ED here for PTSD due to MST - geez thanks a lot!

VA is seeking answers from female vets because female vets have some different needs than male vets.

VAMC's have ALWAYS had all the medical stuff, tests etc... dealing with the male anatomy, but not so for females.

Hell - it's 2011 and I still get steamed when I'm waiting at the VAMC and some ignorant sheet-head ask me if

I'm waiting on my hubby or if I'm a dependent.

SPLAT > > > SPLAT > > > SPLAT > > > SPLAT > > >