Now that VISN 4 is Moreland free I’d like to turn my attention to another pet peeve, the use of former Soviet Officers to treat veterans.The VA should be required to fire all former Soviet Military Officers, who are physicians or at least require that they disclose their former Soviet status to patients!

Which VA Medical Center currently employs a former Soviet military officer to treat veterans with mental health issues? Do you really believe that cold war era veterans can relate to a former Soviet officer?

As shocking as this sounds, the VA currently employs physicians who are former Soviet officers to treat veterans.

It is inappropriate for veterans to be treated by former Soviet officers, particularly, if the physician does not disclose his prior status, it is particularly offensive, when Cold War era veterans receive psychiatric treatment from a former Soviet officer who may lack the basic understanding of our culture necessary to treat our veterans’ mental illnesses.

The VA should be required to fire these former soviet officers, or at a minimum require them to disclose their former Soviet military status so that veterans may chose whether they want to receive treatment from another medical provider.

As I have received some comments that my claim that the VA employs former Soviet Officers is baseless, and is completely without merit, and that I am crazy for saying such things here are some quotes form the deposition of the  VA doctor in question, Iv’e omitted the name of the medical school that he attended because that would make it too easy to figure out which VA hospital I’m referring to:

Q………You went to medical school in —

A. I went to medical school in Russia. And where did you go?

A. The name is ———————————
Q. And could you tell me, when did you graduate from —————–
A. June, 1991.
Q. And how long is medical school or was medical school in Russia at that time?
A. Six years.
Q. And after you graduated from medical school in Russia, what did you do?
A. I did my — I did my residency in OB-GYN and after that I practiced as an OB-GYN.
Q. You practiced as an OB-GYN physician for how long?
A. 1990 till 1992.
Q. When you went to medical school in Russia, was it necessary for you to have any level of military service or governmental service obligation as a result of that education?
A. As a part of our education we went to we studied military medicine and also while in medical school we went to a special summer camp for two months and when I graduated I received I was lieutenant medical something. I had the rank of lieutenant.
Q. And was that in the Soviet Army, Navy?
A. Lieutenant of the Reserve..

Remember you saw it first here!

SAGINAW, MI (WNEM) –

Thomas Talbot and a group of soldiers proudly served their country.

They said in return they don’t require much, only that the Department of Veterans Affairs provides support mentally to help deal with post traumatic stress disorder, a condition they developed as a result of their time fighting in the Vietnam War.

One of ways they help each other deal with PTSD is to meet together in a small room inside the VA hospital in Saginaw. Dennis Deel said being around others who understand what each other went through is better than any medication a doctor can prescribe.

Recently these veterans said they found out the VA was cutting back on the meeting from once a week to once every two weeks. Talbot said he’s afraid the group meeting will eventually be phased out completely and none of them understand why.

The VA in Saginaw said there is no plan to get rid of the group meeting. Although the support groups were reduced to meeting twice a month, the allotted time was extended from 60 minutes to 90 minutes.

The veterans said in the future they would like to see even more group therapy then what they had to begin with and they fear twice a month is not enough for some.

Talbot said most soldiers want to forget about what happened when they return home. So those who may be suffering from PTSD inadvertently de

via Veterans Affairs cuts back on PTSD therapy – WNEM TV 5.

FOX NEWS INSIDER – An update to bring you following last week’s shocking reports about “secret waiting lists” within the veterans health care system in Arizona. Reports indicated at least 40 veterans died while awaiting appointments at the Phoenix VA Medical Center, prompting calls for an investigation and Senate hearings.

The man who blew the whistle on the alleged secret lists, Dr. Sam Foote, talked to Martha MacCallum this morning. Foote, who worked for 24 years in the Phoenix VA system, pointed the finger at Sharon Helman, director of the Phoenix VA Health Care System, who denies any knowledge of “secret lists.”

Foote said the list amounted to a “scam” that began in February 2013. He charged that Helman “came up with” the idea in an effort to “further her career and get a bonus.”

Foote accused the VA hospital of creating a paper file when a new patient came in, but not adding that patient to the electronic database. He said the idea was to “evade the VA’s creation date software, which is how they track the actual, real waiting times.”

via VA Hospital Whistleblower: Top Official Knew About Secret Waiting List, Wanted to Further Her Career – Fox Nation.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) – President Barack Obama says the U.S. will get to the bottom of whether veterans were denied help they needed at a VA hospital in Arizona.

Obama says he immediately ordered Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki to investigate following allegations that up to 40 Arizona veterans died while awaiting medical appointments at the Phoenix VA Health Care Center.

Obama says he takes the allegations, quote, “very seriously.” He says an inspector general is also investigating.

Obama says he wants to ensure not a single U.S. veteran lacks the help they need. He says he’s increased the VA’s budget more than any other agency in his government.

Obama spoke at a news conference in Manila while traveling in the Philippines.

via Obama: US takes VA neglect claim ‘very seriously’ – FOX 10 News | myfoxphoenix.com.

Miami veterans rehab clinic failed son who overdosed, his mother says – Miami-Dade – MiamiHerald.com.

HVAC Chairman Jeff Miller requests that Secretary Shinski appear at HVAC hearing. Chances are pretty good that this isn’t to give the Secretary an “atta boy” and pat on the back for a job well done.

U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller, chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, wants to see VA Secretary Eric Shinseki appear at a committee field hearing he is planning to hold in the Tampa area.

“It would be nice of him to come down,” said Miller, speaking at a press conference with Gov. Rich Scott Friday afternoon. “I believe Secretary Shinseki wants to do the right thing, but I fear he is not being told the truth by his subordinates.”

VA officials did not immediately respond late Friday afternoon.

The press conference, at American Legion Post 139, was part of an on-going election year push to get more information from the VA.

Scott, spurred by stories and an editorial in the Tribune about deaths and injuries at VA facilities as the result of treatment delays, called for greater transparency, as well as answers to questions about exactly when the deaths and injuries took place and whether anyone has been disciplined as a result,

At the press conference, Miller cited a litany of problems at VA facilities around the country, including a situation in Arizona uncovered by CNN, which reported that “at least 40 U.S. veterans died waiting for appointments at the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Health Care system, many of whom were placed on a secret waiting list.”

Miller said he did not know if that situation exists in Florida.

“Again, it would be nice if we had complete confidence in the answers VA is providing us,” said Miller. “Right now, we have been a little shaken by the fact that they keep denying things that we keep uncovering.”

Mary Kay Hollingsworth, a spokeswoman for the VA Sunshine Healthcare Network, said “there is no indication any of those practices were used in Florida.”

She added that she does not immediately know if anyone was disciplined as a result of the three deaths and nine injuries that took place in the Sunshine Healthcare Network, which covers Florida, south Georgia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as the result of delayed colon cancer treatments between 2010 and 2012, or even if any discipline is warranted.

No deaths took place at either the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital or the C.W. “Bill” Young VA Medical Center, but there were two Young center patients and one Haley patient injured as the result of the delays, according to the VA, which has not provided information about who those patients were or exactly when they died.

Shortly after the Tribune reported on the deaths and injuries, Scott ordered inspectors from the state’s Agency for Health Care Administration to visit VA medical facilities, including Haley in Tampa and the Young center in Bay Pines.

VA officials turned the inspectors away, citing “federal guidelines and Privacy Act considerations,” according to Hollingsworth.

Robert L. Jesse, Principal Deputy Under Secretary for Health, for the Veterans Health Administration spoke to AHCA Secretary Elizabeth Dudek, twice since April 18, sharing “extensive and voluntary external reviews that VA routinely engages,” said Hollingsworth. In addition, on Friday, the VA provided AHCA with much of the information about risk management practices AHCA is seeking. Scott, at the press conference, said he was not aware of that, adding he and AHCA officials would review the information.

In November, AHCA officials, citing privacy concerns, pulled inspection records of state hospitals off its website, according to spokeswoman Shelisha Coleman.

“These reports are still available through our public records office after removal of any potentially identifying information,” she said. “We have also identified another source for hospital inspection reports at: http://www.hospitalinspections.org/.”

via VA Secretary Shinseki’s presence requested for Tampa-area hearing | StAugustine.com.

PHOENIX – The Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs will now be looking into allegations of mismanagement and neglect at the Phoenix VA health care system.

A congressional report concluded as many as 40 Arizona veterans may have died while waiting to see a doctor at the VA.

When the 71-year-old navy veteran Thomas Breen  first showed signs of what turned out to be cancer his daughter-in-law tried to take him to the hospital near their San Tan Valley home.

“He stated oh no,  I am a veteran. VA is the hospital to be at. I went to the New York one and I can’t give up the VA hospital. he honored that hospital.,” said Sally Barnes-Breen.

He was seen at the VA’s emergency room, then sent home and told to make an appointment with a primary care doctor. His daughter in-law called to make the appointment and was told this; “ma’am there is there a 7 month wait you have to have patience”. “I said but you… please, please read the record, it says urgent, my pop is still bleeding ,please we are home now. A week goes by, two weeks go by, we keep calling, keep calling, and nothing,” she said.

For more than two months they waited and Breen’s condition worsened.

“It is unforgivable and it is unforgettable. Unforgivable for the VA to ever decline someone and throw him to the curb. I could have gotten better care if I took him to a veterinarian hospital,” said Barnes-Breen.

The 71-year-old veteran died on November 30th. The death certificate lists the cause as stage 4 bladder cancer. Then, week after his death, the VA called to make an appointment.

“I was screaming, how dare you, do you know my father is dead, thank you VA. I was really yelling, I didn’t want to yell at nobody but how could you not,” she said.

“I won’t give up because someone has to help change this. I am begging begging families to come forward nobody be scared. it is all for good souls,” she said.

The VA issued a statement on the case, “We offer our deepest condolences to the Breen family. Out of respect for their privacy, we can’t talk about Mr. Breen’s care specifically. Every death is a tragedy. The Phoenix VA Health Care System maintains robust internal reviews of every death to ensure standards of care are met”.

via Family of veteran who died waiting for care at the VA speaks out – FOX 10 News | myfoxphoenix.com.

Tampa, Florida — It’s the next step to protect veteran healthcare in the state. After reports of deplorable conditions in some VA hospitals for years, we may finally get some answers thanks to new action from the national level.

Dan Ashby’s son Corey Kent is a triple amputee, injured in Afghanistan.

“Three or four months into his rehabilitation and we thought it would be better to get him closer to home,” Ashby said.

But because their son was still in intensive care, they took Corey from from Walter Reed Medical Center to James A. Haley Veterans Hospital in Tampa without seeing it in person first.

“I can tell you this, if we would have, we would have never went to begin with,” he said.

Ashby says he was appalled pictures he took two years ago show what he says is mold under tiles on the floor, dirty bathrooms, holes in the bathroom and walls where people placed trash.

via Hearing to address VA Hospital conditions announced.