Va Hospital Case Study

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. This prompted an additional surgery to clean the infected tissue. The V.A release Randy from the hospital once again for insufficient space and advised him to do his best to keep the sizeable hole in his abdomen

has been understaffed to accommodate the millions of veterans who need access to quality healthcare. According to Reno, “ VA Health Care System continues to worsen in more and more dangerous ways, severely underserving the nearly 7 million veterans who rely on the network for care annually” (Reno, Para 16). If veterans were allowed to go to any hospital they choose, there would be no issue with staffing in civilian hospitals. Local hospitals have the ability to hire to their needs, and do not need access to government funds to hire additional personnel. Veterans should not have to worry about fending for themselves after surgery, because the VA doesn’t have enough room to accommodate their needs. Veterans need access to any facilities should the need arise and shouldn’t be stricken to the V.A

The VA is situated to care for veterans in decent size towns and populated cities.However, in remote towns with populations of less than a thousand people the chances of these veterans having access to just V.A health care is not very promising. Understandably the V.A cannot be everywhere, but veterans should not have to drive hours out of the way to seek care or to attend appointments. According to Susan C. Hunnicutt, “ Individuals living in rural areas have traditionally been underserved with regard to health care access… rural populations tend to be in poorer health; in fact , a study by the Office of Health and Human Services estimates that half of the adults living in rural areas suffer from a chronic health condition. (Para 7) ” Even in rural area’s there is a much larger possibility of a local hospital or emergency center, where a veteran can go to get health care should the need arise.

Unfortunately VA Health Care Centers are not the most sanitary and are notorious for the spread of infection and disease. Jamie Reno author of VA is Broken: Death, Medical Mistreatment, Claims Backlogs and Neglect at Veterans Affairs Hospitals and