Health Care Executive Summary

In 2005, a family friend by the name of Randy Birdsong was a patient at Audie L. Murphy Memorial VA Hospital located in San Antonio, Texas. The Veteran Affairs (VA) medical staff was performing surgery on his abdomen. After the surgery, he was notified that there was insufficient space to accommodate his continued care. The V.A. advised him to keep his wound clean with a fresh roll of gauze, and sent him on his merry way. A few days later, Randy was back at the V.A. hospital with a noticeable infection taken place in his abdominal region.

In order to realize this goal, the VBA established, as one of its goals, the necessity to “Empower employees to serve Veterans reliably, efficiently and with compassion”. Nested under this goal, VBA identified the objective to “Optimize processing capacity to meet the forecasted demand for services”. This initiative will focus on adopting descriptive identifiers for the VBA workload, which clearly indicates the type of work performed. Additionally, this initiative will provide greater definition and clarity to the system of broad categories, which is currently in place.

The VA needs to change the way it deals with Veterans and their bout with homelessness, consistent and worthwhile employment, and mental

VA Choice Act was a politically motivated Band-Aid on a placed over severed artery. Without a re-vamp of the entire US healthcare system, The Obligation of Honor to US military Veterans cannot be fulfilled due to an overburdened, underfunded VHA and the attempt of “privatization” of the excess Veteran demand to the private sector health care system has proven abysmal. The only hope to fulfill the Obligation of Honor is a restructuring of the entire US healthcare model incorporating Universal healthcare. Undersecretary for Health Dr. Randy Petzel retired on May 15, 2014 and VA Secretary Eric Shinseki resigned two weeks later on May 30, 2014. The U. S. President appointed the Honorable Robert “Bob” McDonald as the new VA Secretary charged with making changes to the VA System.

In January 2014, CNN reported the death of nineteen veterans at a VA hospital due to delayed diagnosis and treatment (Singh, et al., 2010). On April 23, 2013, forty veterans died waiting to see a doctor at Phoenix VA health care system (Singh, et al., 2010). According to the CNN reporter, the patients were on a secret list meant to keep VA officials at Washington in the dark as a recently retired VA doctor disclosed. The Phoenix case is a representation of the trouble that the majority of veterans face while attempting to access medical services from VA hospitals. Since 1923, scandals have dominated the VA hospitals (Singh, et al., 2010).

Providing case management services can help the veterans overcome the barriers that stand between them and a secure stable life. Health and wellness services can benefit homeless veterans by providing health screenings, medication monitoring program, support groups and socialization skills training. Homeless veterans benefit from employment and training skills which include career counseling, training and education. Other varieties of supportive services in which a veteran may need food pantry, clothing, legal assistance and dental exam.

A common view of politicians about Veterans Affairs and the money tied up in it is that the United States has put too much money into the well-being of veterans coming home from war. The United States is already in a spiralling debt crisis and currently the United States does not need any more debt on the shoulders of Americans. According to Forbes, “the federal government has accumulated $18.2 trillion of debt” (Patton). If the United States were to invest more money into Veteran Affairs, that would mean that money would have to be cut from other programs in the budget to prevent even more national debt. If money were to not be cut from other programs, the national debt would drastically increase or taxes would skyrocket.

Veteran Homelessness On any given night, approximately 49,000 American veterans are homeless, men and women that served our country and fought for our freedom (Unique Issues). Most are suffering from traumatic brain injuries, physical disabilities, and some are over the age of 50 (Unique Issues). Veteran homelessness continues to be a persistent problem. A system in which increased funding goes to housing and providing care to veterans would drastically help these peoples if not homelessness will continue to grow because of the United States’ involvement in the Middle East.

Another initiative is to solicit volunteers and train them to become a part of the claims processing staff to accelerate the claim process. Also, in the hearing Walcoff (2010) stated that there was a need for transformation in the Department of Veteran Affairs to provide the best service available to our Nation 's Veterans, and their families. References: USDVA. (2010). New Medical Forms Will Streamline Veterans Claims Process. Retrieved February 26, 2016, from U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs: http://www1.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=1987 Walcoff,

Other organizations such as Real Warriors offer advice to seek out medical help through speaking with a VA approved medical doctor to confirm PTSD and then become eligible for

Veterans and active-duty members are considerably diverse in individual characteristics and life histories. Veterans refer to retired or discharge military population. Some suggest programs implemented are addressing too broad of a population and should be focused on specific veteran populations. Many veterans develop self- stigma, internalizing the negative beliefs society places on this population, and avoid seeking help. "Each of the military services and the Veterans Administration (VA) have developed educational campaigns to reduce the stigma associated with reporting emotional distress, raise awareness of the risk of suicide, and teach military personnel, veterans, and their family’s suicide prevention strategies (Brenner & Barnes, 2012).

That’s why it makes perfect sense to expand and reconstruct the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) to undertake such a massive service. Veterans don’t deserve to be treated like this, the forgotten hero’s, now the homeless, and the starving.

Patient centered care focuses on getting to know the older person as an individual such as their values, Aspirations, health, social needs, preferences and providing care specific to their needs. It enables the older person to make decisions on what kind of options with assistance available, promoting his/her Autonomy and independence. It involves them in such way to be included in shared decisions between healthcare teams and families, so the can be control with a choice of specific care / services. It provides information that is tailored for the individual in order to assist them in decision making based on evidence, helping them to understand their options and consequences of this. Supporting a person on his/her choice and letting them pursue their stated wishes, As a patient centered approach so they are involved as equal partners in their care ( Manley et al,

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have placed an unusual burden on the disability compensation program. Today, injuries vastly outnumber deaths when compared to previous wars. As of 2012, there were twenty-two million veterans living in the United States, 2.4 million of which had served in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. There were approximately 3.5 million veterans living with some degree of a physical disability related to their military service, and nearly one-fifth of all veterans reported some level of psychological disorder. Approximately 200,000 veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have filed for disability claims, straining VA resources.

Nearly 20 percent of 30,000 suicides are attributed to veterans each year (Cesar, Sabia & Tekin, 2012). This number represents a substantial number of military personnel suffering with mental health problems. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (2011) PTSD impairs one’s ability to function in social or family life, which includes instability, marital problems, divorce, family conflict, and difficulty in parenting (p. 3). PTSD causes much impairment and has many contributing factors; for that reason, it is important to discuss the quality of services available to