Tag: EMTALA

“That’s Crazy!!!” – More Chronicles from the VA (Ch 9)

I-CareThe Department of Veterans Affairs – Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) regularly crows about reducing the backlog, improving the veteran experience, and making changes to deliver on the promise.  Every so often, another article is spread, mainly by the VA Public Relations department (PR), about how they meet the legislated obligations.  Then, unsurprisingly the truth is revealed, the curtain thrown back, and the lie exposed.  The Department of Veterans Affairs – Office of Inspector General (VA-OIG) is helping pull the curtain back, and the truth should infuriate every American.  In an investigative report dated 22 June 2022 and linked, we find the following:

“… The VBA disregarded privacy procedures so it could use a workload tracking system more quickly without receiving the appropriate security authorization.  The Mission Accountability Support Tracker (MAST) helps quantify the work VBA’s support services staff perform in response to employee requests for facility, equipment, and vehicle management; reasonable accommodation; and identification card issuance and renewal.  Because staff use personally identifiable information (PII) in their work, the information could be compromised in an unauthorized, unsecured application.  The VA-OIG found that VBA and the Office of Information and Technology (OIT) did not correctly follow privacy and security procedures.  VBA’s privacy threshold analysis was inaccurate, and OIT did not conduct a privacy impact assessment.  OIT’s misclassification of MAST as an asset resulted in insufficient security controls.  Further, VBA lacked the authority to operate MAST before using it in regional offices.”

Lacking authority equates to a leadership failure to follow their standard operating procedures (SOP).  PII being inappropriately released, nothing new at the VBA, or the VHA for that matter.  Losing veterans’ identities and taking advantage of systems for personal gain, regardless of the cost, is nothing new or surprising.  This should be where the VA organizational leadership should be focused; yet, what are they doing?  Where is Congressional oversight and scrutiny?VA 3

FY 2017, the VBA leaders devised a scheme to have third-party vendors conduct compensation and pension exams to deliver on the promise to clear the backlog on veterans’ claims.  Since FY 2017, the VBA has paid over $6.5 Billion on this scheme, and the VA-OIG found in a report dated 08 June 2022, “Some of the exams produced by vendors have not met contractual accuracy requirements.  As a result, claims processors may have used inaccurate or insufficient medical evidence to decide veterans’ claims.”  Is anyone surprised this is the result?  The compensation and pension exam is the key to accuracy in claim completion; yet, inaccurate claims are still being adjudicated wrongly, which is significantly damaging veterans and their families!

From the report, we find the following:

“VBA’s governance of and accountability for the exam program needs to improve.  The identified deficiencies appear to have persisted, at least partly because of limitations with VBA’s management and oversight of the program at the time of the review.”VA 3

The VBA’s leaders designed this scheme, shackled the program with ineptitude, and hindered the improvement of the program.  Designed incompetence cannot get any better than this, and the leadership must be held accountable!  Fraud, waste, and abuse remain pillars in Federal Government governance, so why are these leaders not being held liable?

Michael Bowman, Director of IT and Security Audits, in recent Congressional Testimony, made the following claim:

“Secure IT systems and networks are essential to VA’s fundamental mission of providing eligible veterans and their families with benefits and services.  VA’s information security program and its practices must protect the confidentiality, integrity, and access to VA systems and data.”

The audacity of this director to claim “confidentiality, integrity, and access” as being secure would be laughable if it weren’t so inept!  How would a non-VA Employee know the IT system is fraught with problems?  VA-OIG report regarding FISMA compliance, Dallas, Texas.  The Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 (FISMA).  FISMA is a United States federal law that defines a comprehensive framework to protect government information, operations, and assets against natural and manmade threats.  FISMA OIG inspections are focused on four security control areas that apply to local facilities.  They have been selected based on their level of risk: configuration management controls, contingency planning controls, security management controls, and access controls.VA 3

What did the VA-OIG find?  “Without effective configuration management, users do not have adequate assurance that the system and network will perform as intended and to the extent needed to support the CMOP’s missions.  The access control deficiencies create risks of unauthorized access to critical network resources, inability to respond effectively to incidents, loss of personally identifiable information, or loss of life.”  All political speak for inept leaders and deplorable leadership actions.  IT/IS systems continue to fail, and the director claims the system has integrity; despicable and detestable!

Worse, the same FISMA inspection occurred at the same outpatient pharmacy mail facility in Tuscon, Arizona.  The same problems were found, in the same systems, manned by the same inept people and led by the same poor leadership.  Integrity, only if the word means sharing ineptitude between different facilities.  Access to systems and data protection, can anyone honestly trust that the IT system at the VBA or VHA is providing the fundamental tools to meet the mission?VA 3

On the topic of IT system integrity, can anyone forget the continuing problems in delivering a functional electronic health record system to the VHA?  How many billions of dollars must be wasted before Congress stops paying for this albatross?  The VA-OIG has substantiated that “… many quality, patient safety, and organizational performance metrics were unavailable, including metrics needed for hospital accreditation.  Additionally, the VA-OIG found that access metrics were largely unavailable.  The VA-OIG remains concerned that deficits in new EHR metrics may negatively affect organizational performance, quality and patient safety, and access to care.”  How’s that integrity doing?  Is it trustworthy?

05 May 2022, failures were discovered in a joint DoD and VHA review of the new electronic health record system.  The new EHR has no plan to create interoperability, yet interoperability was the main selling point for spending billions of dollars on a new EHR.  Would you believe the VA-OIG recommends the DoD and VHA review federal laws and direct the offices overseeing the EHR program to begin complying?  Would Congress please ask, why haven’t the program managers for the HER already been complying with Federal Law?  How about demanding action to recompense the taxpayers who have been defrauded?VA 3

In April 2022, VA-OIG Michael J. Missal addressed Congress in a statement entitled, “At What Cost? – Ensuring Quality Representation in the Veteran Benefit Claims Process.”  The VA-OIG’s mission is “preventing and addressing fraud and other crimes, waste, and abuse in VA programs and operations.”  General Missal then discussed the integrity of VA processes to “help ensure that veterans receive the benefits, health care, and services they have earned through their service to our country.”  Would Congress please ask how the VA-OIG is fulfilling its mission to prevent fraud, waste, and abuse?

“The VA-OIG operates a hotline that receives approximately 30,000 complaints annually from veterans, family members, VA employees, and the public.”  If the 30,000 complaints are presumed to be stable, across just the years I have documented the VA’s abuses, then the VA-OIG has received upwards of 360,000 complaints over the last 12 years.  Would Congress please ask about the success in promoting change, reducing fraud, waste, and abuse, and curbing the veterans being actively harmed by the VA, the VHA, and VBA?VA 3

Congress receives these VA-OIG reports first; what is Congress doing to scrutinize the executive branch?  Where is the progress?  The VA-OIG reports annually to Congress, but improvement never occurs.  Permanent change never occurs.  The same people are making the same excuses, using the same flowery language, and nothing ever happens to improve things.  Worse, the same people maintain the same jobs, who pays, the veterans and their families, and the American taxpayer through the nose as the VA loses more and more money!

I do not know about any Congressional elected leader, but I am through buying the Kool-Aid the VA-OIG is selling:

“The VA-OIG’s work is focused on protecting VA programs and operations from waste, fraud, and abuse as well as improving their efficiency and effectiveness.”

On a single topic that the VA-OIG has reported on multiple times and remains critically important to all veterans and their families, it is reporting needs for improvement in VHA and VBA suicide prevention.  From the report, we find the following:

“… Suicide prevention coordinators at VA medical facilities are required to reach out to veterans referred from the Veterans Crisis Line.  Coordinators provide access to assessment, intervention, and effective care; encourage veterans to seek care, benefits, or services with the VA system or in the community; and follow up to connect veterans with appropriate care and services after the call.”

The findings from the VA-OIG report are almost criminal in the negligence of leadership to perform the jobs they hold:

“The VA-OIG found that coordinators mistakenly closed some veteran referrals because coordinators lacked the proper training, guidance, and oversight necessary to maximize chances of reaching at-risk veterans referred by the crisis line.  VHA lacked comprehensive performance metrics to assess coordinators’ management of crisis line referrals, and coordinators lacked clear guidance on managing crisis line referrals.  Until VHA provides appropriate training, issues adequate guidance, and improves performance metrics, coordinators could miss opportunities to reach and assist at-risk veterans.”VA 3

Why did the media bury this report?  Suicide prevention continues to be a significant military and veteran issue, but this program’s designed incompetence should be a major story on all media networks.  More, this VA-OIG report should be a talking point for every congressional representative seeking re-election.  Why is this not the case?  Integrity requires honesty, honesty and integrity requires action.  When will Congress take action?

How many dead veterans will it take before Congress takes action?  31 May 2022 VA-OIG report:

“The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted an inspection to review the care of an unresponsive patient by Emergency Department staff and the subsequent response of leaders at the Malcom Randall VA Medical Center (facility) after the patient’s death at the University of Florida Health Shands Hospital (Shands).  The OIG determined that facility Emergency Department nurses failed to provide emergency care to an unresponsive patient who arrived by ambulance.  Despite emergency medical services (EMS) personnel having relayed, while en route to the facility, the criticality of the patient’s condition and the limited patient identifying information available, Emergency Department nurses and an Administrative Officer of the Day wasted critical time concentrating efforts on whether the patient was a veteran (which the patient was, but not so identified by the nurses) versus patient care.  As a result, EMS personnel reloaded the patient into the ambulance for transport to Shands.”VA 3

The staff failed to follow EMTALA, and a veteran died due to the inaction and inappropriate focus of the medical providers.  This is not the first or second breach of EMTALA, the federal law requiring any patient presenting at an emergency department receiving federal funds to be treated; yet, what will it take to get Congress off their thumbs?

12 May 2022, deficiencies in care led to a patient dying at the Charlie Norwood VAMC, Augusta, Georgia.  The VA-OIG substantiated that:

“medical-surgical unit nursing leaders did not have adequate quality controls or training to ensure the provision of safe and effective alcohol withdrawal nursing care.”  “Primary care staff failed to provide sufficient care coordination and treatment.  A provider failed to address the patient’s abnormal chest images and poor nutrition and failed to communicate test results to the patient as required.  A primary care nurse failed to respond to the patient’s secure message request for assistance two days before surgery.

Additionally, a barium swallow test was not scheduled.  The surgical team completed a preoperative assessment but failed to detect the patient’s overall poor health.  During the patient’s hospital stay after surgery, medical-surgical nurses did not consistently assess alcohol withdrawal symptoms or administer medications as required.”VA 3

My wife is fond of saying, these oversights and failures occur in non-Government hospitals, and this incident should not be considered indicative of the whole system lacking similarly.  Yet, civilian hospitals have lawyers by the dozen looking for a reason to sue providers for malpractice, and the government hospitals protect against accountability and responsibility.  Worse, you will never know the problems unless you track these incidents.

Do you know why I keep declaring there is a problem with designed incompetence; several veterans suffered T-12 burst fractures and multiple rib fractures, all because of poor documentation and even worse communication.  This is a life-changing injury, and the VA-OIG found the VA providers to have culpability but no responsibility due to a lack of documentation.  Delays in provider documenting in the electronic health record the provider’s notes delayed care for another veteran who also suffered life-changing spinal injuries after receiving non-care at a VA facility.  The VA-OIG cannot conclusively document the tie between poor care being received and the injuries sustained by the veteran, all because of delays in the provider documenting treatment.VA 3

Tell me, does anything discussed above reflect the words of Inspector General Michael J. Missal, who claimed the following in Congressional Testimony:

“VHA continues to face enormous challenges in providing high-quality care to the millions of veterans it serves.  Despite these challenges, the VA-OIG has witnessed countless examples of veterans receiving the care they need and deserve—delivered by a committed, compassionate, and highly skilled workforce [emphasis mine].”VA 3

Does a provider killing a veteran reflect a committed, compassionate, or highly skilled workforce?  How many veterans must be permanently injured by the VHA providers to reflect a committed, compassionate, and highly skilled workforce?  How often will the electronic health record fail before highly skilled workers are displayed?

Plato 2Unfortunately, the VA-OIG reports discussed are not even the tip of the iceberg of what is happening.  My apologies, dear readers; I have been remiss in my reporting duties.  Why have I been remiss, because my health went sideways since April when I had a medical procedure completed that was advised but not appropriate.  The VHA and VBA are sick organizations and desperately need scrutiny and standards, new leadership, and written organizational policies.  Help me force these nefarious characters into the sunshine for a good dose of sunshine disinfectant, and let’s change the world for the better.

© Copyright 2022 – M. Dave Salisbury
The author holds no claims for the art used herein, the pictures were obtained in the public domain, and the intellectual property belongs to those who created the images.  Quoted materials remain the property of the original author.

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NO MORE – An Open Letter to the People of Arizona

To The Citizens of Arizona:

ArizonaIt has been my pleasure to have lived in Arizona four separate times since 1996.  Employment and pleasure have brought me relocation opportunities, and I have enjoyed my time in Arizona. However, since my return in 2005 to the present, I have feared for the soul of Arizona.  I have watched as despicable and detestable politicians have won political races that never should have been won.  I have witnessed governors act in cowardly and craven methods to thwart the people’s will.  I have witnessed those elected to Federal Offices from Arizona stop being held accountable to the electorate until the politicians have set up a hegemony and no longer fear the ballot box.  Most egregious of all, I have witnessed the veteran community become increasingly abused as every day ticks past.Patriotism

In April 2021, I wrote about my interactions with Rep. Greg Stanton (D) and his staff, where the VA is concerned.  For almost an entire year, I have been injured, cited, and arrested, denied care, had untold HIPAA violations, and other disgraceful conduct taken against me by the administration and leadership of the Carl T. Hayden VAMC.  In December 2020, I reached out again to the federally elected representatives, asking for help to clear my name and remove the atrocious behavior of the VA, all to no avail.The Duty of Americans

All four Senators rejected my pleas and never bothered to respond.  All of the members of the House of Representatives from Arizona refused to reply, save the staff of Rep. Greg Stanton (D).  Except, Rep. Greg Stanton (D) and his staff, did nothing!  Had no priority, refused to communicate, could not maintain pressure, and bought the lies and excuses of the Carl T. Hayden VAMC administrators.  These are the same administrators who create a crisis for veterans through inaction, duplicitous action, poor behavior, and refusal to perform the jobs they were hired to perform.  I have made it clear that the Administrators of the Carl T. Hayden VAMC and VISN 22 are but one dead veteran from another scandal to dwarf the death list scandal that originated with the VA administrators in 2012 and repeated in 2016.

VA 3No VA Administrator has addressed the root causes of those scandals, and without proper persuasion from Washington, D.C., they never will!  Worse, without continuous scrutinization, the bureaucrats will continue to exemplify the duplicity and failures, hiding behind designed incompetence and tissue paper-thin excuses for poor behavior.  Yet, what do we find from those enjoying elected office?  Zero interest, half-truths, straight lies, misinformation, smoke and mirrors, and plain laziness!  We, the electorate, find the politicians sitting on their hands, engaging in hopeless and stupid legislation that will go nowhere, and we find lackadaisical meandering in the House and Senate leadership.  I have witnessed amoebic life with more robust spines than the current political leadership in Arizona!Image - Quote Poltics is Dirty

It is true, Arizona is not the only state suffering from political abuse of the basest sort and blackest hue, but Arizona is where I have personally seen the destruction hit the hardest.  During Senator McCain’s tenure, my requests for help were rebuffed, but I could still obtain assistance from the House of Representatives members.  Now, the political party doesn’t matter, the politicians have plastic ears, and plastic lips, and their hearts are full of desire for political gain and not the electorate’s support.  Who loses, the electorate!  Who wins, nobody!

America, I ask you, in the year and change between today and the next election cycle, what will you do to change America’s government?  Arizona, you have been duped, lied to, and dishonored by those elected to power.  What will you do to reclaim the honor, integrity, and political government you deserve and pay so much for?Apathy

Personally, I have been betrayed, and I am sick to death of pleading for reprieve only to have lackluster performance, at best, provided so I would just go away.  I know of no honorable politician representing Arizona, and their respective staff is worse than the politician!  From the Mayor of Phoenix to the Governor, including the school boards, judges, and so many others, the fear of the ballot box is shrinking, and the bureaucrat is winning.   In contrast, the scrutinization of bureaucrats and other duties are dodged to win another term, always with a complicit media running interference.LinkedIn Image

I did not elect the media to their position, and since the media is not elected, they can be removed. However, while the politicians are elected, the fear of the ballot box needs to be retaught to the politicians.  How does a citizen get a politician to fear the ballot box; you first buck the trends and stand like a rock in a stream. Then, as additional rocks begin to stand, a dam is built, forcing change to that stream.Plato 3

If we are to change the government and retain our freedoms and liberties under the Rule of Law, we, the electorate, must first get the politicians to fear the ballot box!  We, the electorate, need to also teach accountability and responsibility to those who claim power but who only obtain power from those choosing to be governed!  We, the electorate, hold power over these politicians and the bureaucrats spawned in the legislative branch of government. So claim the power that is yours, and join your friends, neighbors, and communities in demanding better from those elected.

Knowledge Check!I heard the mayor’s office in Phoenix complain that they have no power over the Federal Government.  To think this is treason of the vilest kind.  Let me reiterate something discussed in several previous articles.  The local government stands as a bulwark against the county government overstepping its legal boundaries.  The city and county stand against the state encroaching against the freedoms and liberties of the state government.  The state government defends its citizens from the Federal Government’s encroachment, and the individual citizen is the most potent force in our Republican form of government.

Plato 2Cease the sophistry of plastic language and do your job!  End the tyranny of plastic words and work to aid the citizen in protecting their rights and freedoms from the ever-encroaching thieves of government and the bureaucrats spawned in the darkest pits of legislative fiat! So stand, every American citizen needs to stand and refuse to be governed until those elected are replaced with people willing to take action and honor the Rule of Law, holding previous politicians accountable and responsible for the mess America is currently suffering under.  Enough is enough, and I have reached the end of my tolerance, and my cherubic demeanor has been replaced with a hunger for justice!

© 2021 M. Dave Salisbury
All Rights Reserved
The images used herein were obtained in the public domain; this author holds no copyright to the images displayed.

How Do I Know? – An Update on the VA Mandatory Mask Policies and VA Leadership Failures

Question24 May 2021 – 1200-1500 I visited the Las Cruces Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) in Las Cruces, New Mexico.  Upon entry, I was asked to wear a mask.  I described I could not wear a mask, and the employee said I might be required to wear one but left the decision to those working more closely with me.  I waited in line and was called to the Team 2 window, where a gentleman was more than happy to assist me in getting the paperwork started to change VA hospitals after relocating.  About 45-minutes into my time in this CBOC, the gentleman asked me to wear a mask.  I told him I could not and had brought my VA Doctor’s note as proof.  The gentleman read the letter, confirmed I was good to receive care without the mask, and provided exceptional customer support.

After the past year at the Phoenix VAMC, where my every movement on the property was shadowed by VA Police officers looking for a reason to injure, arrest, cite, and force me from the property, the employees here in Las Cruces was a breath of fresh air.  However, the experiences in Las Cruces provide further evidence of the following facts:

      1. The Hospital Director has statutory authority for adapting and creating policies and procedures that benefit the safety of the employees and the patients. A point I stressed to the leaders of VISN 22 and the Phoenix VAMC to no avail.
      2. The Federal Mask Mandates can be situationally applied for the circumstances of the individual. Yet, another point I have repeatedly stressed since July 2020, and the first time I was injured, arrested, cited, and forced from Federal Property. At the same time, I was being denied emergency care under EMTALA and having my HIPAA information repeatedly violated by the VA Police Officers.
      3. The bombastic and unprofessional behavior of the Federal Police employed at the Carl T. Hayden VAMC is a problem of the leadership, and the failures of leadership to instill professionalism, proper attitudes and behaviors, training, and tactics in approaching and handling situations in the Phoenix VAHCS. At the behavior of the Federal Police Officers in the Phoenix VAHCS, Che Guevara, Mao, Stalin, and Fidel Castro would be proud!VA 3

How can a person be sure the problems caused are a direct result of leadership failures?

ApathyBy tracing behaviors, attitudes, and influence to their source, the police chief acts as he considers appropriate, but the underofficers generationally multiply and mirror his behaviors.  The same is true for the chief who takes his example from the assistant director, director, and hospital leadership.  Chains of command always have this consequence; the example of those above are mirrored, replicated, and multiplied to impress the higher officers to gain attention and promotion opportunities.  Want to take a measure of a leader; look to the most junior person in the chain of command and watch them for behaviors, attitudes, and actions that originate in the leadership.

GavelCase in point, long have I detailed and described the failures of leadership at the VA.  The latest is a wire fraud scheme in Jackson, Mississippi.  From the Department of Veterans Affairs – Office of Inspector General (VA-OIG), we find the following:

“Anthony Kelley, the owner of Trendsetters Barber College in Jackson, Mississippi, pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud in a scheme to steal federal funds. From October 2016 through March 2019, the college offered a master barber course that was not accredited by the state’s board of barber examiners. Kelley fraudulently represented that this course was approved and, as a result, was allowed to collect GI Bill money from veterans enrolled in the program.”VA 3

As the lowest person in the chain of command, Mr. Kelly was allowed to attempt to commit fraud by the VA.  Never in these reports is the VA employee, their supervisor, and their manager, who were complicit in allowing fraud to occur, mentioned and held accountable.  Somehow, we, the taxpayer, must presume that those committing frauds could hoodwink the Department of Veterans Affairs without any inside help.  Help coming directly or indirectly from government employees charged with investigating, ensuring, and following proper protocols and procedures to protect against theft and fraud.

Angry Grizzly BearLet the US Attorney and VA-OIG special investigators crow about catching the person perpetrating fraud.  Before they break open the champagne, they need to be looking into the leadership that either overtly or covertly allowed this fraud to occur.  The elected officials need to be demanding why fraud opportunities are so rampant at the Department of Veterans Affairs that criminal proceedings are being reported almost every week and asking about the culture of corruption and leadership failures allowing these behaviors to thrive.

Is it a “Culture of Corruption?”

Absolutely; the VA is sick with a culture of corruption!  It is my sad duty to report on another employee who was able to steal from the VA, stealing hydrocodone and oxycodone prescriptions from the VAMC mailroom and mailboxes at some 40 locations in Kerrville, Ingram, and Center Point.

“Scott M. Brown, a pharmacy technician at the Kerrville VA Medical Center in Texas, was charged with one count of theft of US mail for stealing hydrocodone and oxycodone prescriptions from the medical center’s mailroom as well as from residential mailboxes between March and April 2021.”VA 3

Currently, Mr. Brown is being held in custody and remains innocent until proven guilty in a court of law by a jury of his peers.  However, the fact that Mr. Brown has been charged and is in custody speaks volumes to the lax leadership that allowed these prescription thefts to occur.  Where is the VA-OIG in asking how the robbery was possible?  Where are the special investigators demanding answers from the leadership on policies and procedures that an employee could easily violate to obtain these drugs?  Who else was involved, or had to know, what was happening and said nothing?Plato 3

The Department of Veterans Affairs has been overtaken by those without skill, knowledge, and ability to understand cause and effect and properly interrupt the cycles of corruption.  Worse, these same people will bleat about how they need more money for technology solutions when their personal example, leadership failures, and human-to-human relationships are the actual problems.  The leaders will bleat like sheep in a corral about engagement, customer service, and industry buzzwords because they have no substance and even less desire to see things change.Plato 2

Recently I detailed the failures at the Department of Veterans Affairs on information technology.  The fallout from the deplorable designed incompetence in the IT/IS infrastructure at the VHA continues to represent just how incompetent the current leaders genuinely are.

“To promote compatibility with the Department of Defense’s electronic health record system, VA is replacing its aging record system. This requires VA medical facilities to upgrade their physical infrastructure, including electrical and cabling. The OIG determined from its audit that the Veterans Health Administration’s (VHA) cost estimates for these upgrades were not reliable. VHA’s estimates did not fully meet VA standards for being comprehensive, well-documented, accurate, and credible. The audit team projected that VHA’s June and November 2019 cost estimates were potentially underestimated by as much as $1 billion and $2.6 billion, respectively. This was due in part to facility needs not being well-defined early on. The estimates also omitted escalation and cabling upgrade costs and were based on low estimates at the initial operating sites. Because cost estimates support funding requests, there is a risk that funds intended for other medical facility improvements would need to be diverted to cover program shortfalls. The Office of Electronic Health Record Modernization (OEHRM) also did not meet its obligation to report all program costs to Congress in accordance with statutory requirements. Specifically, OEHRM did not include cost estimates for upgrading physical infrastructure in the program’s life cycle cost estimates in congressionally mandated reports. Although VHA provided OEHRM with an approximately $2.7 billion estimate for physical infrastructure upgrade costs in June 2019, OEHRM did not, in turn, include them in life cycle cost estimate reports to Congress as of January 2021. OEHRM stated it did not disclose these estimates because the upgrades were outside OEHRM’s funding responsibility and that they represented costs assumed by VHA facilities for maintenance—including long-standing needs” [emphasis mine].VA 3

Angry Wet Chicken 2Did you catch that; the office specifically tasked with handling estimates intentionally low-balled estimates, did not include all necessary contractual requirements, and then lied to Congress to cover their hides, and fell back upon designed incompetence to skirt blame, responsibility, and accountability when the VA-OIG came investigating.  Lying to Congress is a CRIME!  Yet, these federal employees can break the law with impunity, and all the VA-OIG can do is make recommendations for improvement!  If you want to read the full report of shame, you can find it here.

Leadership is change; management is stagnation and corruption.  When will the VA start hiring leaders to enforce, demand, and execute change to benefit the taxpayer and the veteran community?  Where are the elected officials willing to work with newly hired VA leadership in establishing legal frameworks for evicting employees who refuse to change from the federal workforce?  When can the veteran community and the taxpayer expect to see real and tangible change at the VA?

Knowledge Check!I am not asking these questions and not expecting an answer!  I am asking these questions looking for and expecting real results to begin immediately, if not sooner!  This is a national embarrassment with a global impact, and it is time for the United States to lead in correcting their detestable government workforce!

© 2021 M. Dave Salisbury
All Rights Reserved
The images used herein were obtained in the public domain; this author holds no copyright to the images displayed.

NO MORE BS: Calling Out Politicians – The Rep. Greg Stanton (D) AZ09 Edition

Foghorn Leghorn - MedicationWhile Rep. Greg Stanton (D)’s staff did respond, and this is a good thing, neither senator from Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D) or Sen. Mark Kelly (D) cared enough about my concerns to respond.  Frankly, this speaks volumes about how little the senators representing Arizona care about their constituents or veterans.  Hence when re-election arrives, remember well the treatment and vote for anyone else!

Now, getting back to Rep. Greg Stanton (D).  I contacted his office initially in December 2020; by early January 2021, I received a response from the director of constituent services and was told to allow the VA 45-days to respond to my complaint.  Remember, this is my seventh attempt at contacting any of the federal elected representatives to no avail.  I was 6-months into being discriminated against by the Carl T. Hayden VAMC for my medically approved breathing problems that preclude wearing a mask.  I have sent letters to the hospital director, the VISN Director, and Secretary Wilkie to no avail.  I have sent emails to the patient advocate and gotten misleading information, at best.  My Primary Care Provider (PCP), at the Carl T. Hayden VAMC, refuses to diagnose over the phone or through distant means and has invited me to find another PCP.  I have been arrested, injured, and cited three times by VA Police, who have no say in writing policy.  The policy they are enforcing is causing me both injuries at their hands and refusal of emergency care illegal under EMTALA.  Not to mention the continuous HIPAA violations as they joke about my medications, mental diagnoses, and physical diagnoses.

PatriotismI explain this by phone at least three times to the director of constituent services for Rep. Greg Stanton (D), who called me multiple times while responding to my numerous requests for assistance since the election occurred in Nov 2020.  Not having heard anything from Jan 2021 to 25 April 2021, I sent the following message via email to the director of constituent services:

“Good Morning XXXX,

Has it been sufficient time for the VA to address my concerns and return a response to your office? The governor of AZ has made mask mandates unenforceable since 25 March, and the VA continues to push masks as mandatory and deny me access.  This includes refusing to schedule blood work through the community while insisting that I needed blood work to be conducted before I could get a prescription refilled.  I went more than 2-weeks without diabetes medication because my primary care provider refused to alert me in early February that a refill of Metformin would need blood work.  I did not discover the need for blood work was required to refill until after I had been without Metformin for a week!

Mask discrimination at the VA is real and dangerous to veterans’ health and safety, and I, for one, am sick and tired of the BS the VA keeps serving as excuses to deny service.  I am not a behavioral problem, as the Carl T. Hayden VAMC continues to claim.  I do stand up for my rights against all enemies, foreign and domestic!  I have paid my fines.  If the US Marshals at the Federal Courthouse can have situational empowerment to not press the mask issue for those of us with qualifying medical conditions, the same should occur inside the VA with the VA Police.

The mask mandate is a policy issue threatening my health, safety, and well-being, as well as thousands of other veterans with breathing problems.  Just what, if anything, has been done since January on this issue?

Sincerely,
Dave Salisbury”

I realize that the AZ State Governor does not have anything to do with the Federal Policies; I mentioned the governor’s action solely as an indicator that change in the state of AZ has come (finally), where mask mandates are concerned!  The VA claims their mask policy is “constantly changing,” but the only changes I have witnessed are moving from draconian to oppressive, then to ruthless and punitive!  The mask policy is wrong, has never been printed as a work standard, and has never been published for veterans to abide by.  The best a person has is a sign claiming masks are mandatory and a bunch of emotionally charged employees acting like snowflake Nazi Storm Troopers on a 6-day pass from hell!

The Duty of AmericansToday, 28 April 2021, I reached out to the director of constituent services as I had not received any additional information.  Sending the following email:

“I blog, I have a pretty good following, here is my latest: https://dnc-consulting.com/2021/04/28/no-more-bs-speaking-of-administration-bureaucrats-in-government/

Please note, I have not mentioned Rep. Stanton (D) by name, yet, as a politician, I am begging to perform his job of scrutinizing the government, but the temptation is real!  I have to be able to access the VA Healthcare system ASAP safely!  Where is this issue in being resolved?  Feel free to explore the other VA Articles I write on my blog.  You will find every single one of the letters to the VA, you will find other veterans having similar problems, and you will find I do not hesitate to name names and point fingers.

I am still waiting patiently, but patience does wear thin when information is lacking!

Sincerely,
Dave Salisbury”

Anton EgoWithin 3 hours of this email, I received the following:

“Dr. Salisbury,

Thanks so much for sharing! Apologies for the delayed response. I am following up with the Phoenix VA Medical Center and determine the status of the inquiry.”

Why am I writing this article?

Angry Grizzly BearFrankly, I am through!  I am done with the foot-dragging administration at the Carl T. Hayden VAMC, and Alyshia Smith, the director who has dodged, balked, and refused to engage.  I am through with the VISN 22 Director Michael Fisher being able to remain silent and unresponsive in this farrago.  I am sick to death of being ignored by the VA Secretary, Secretary’s Wilkie and McDonough and their respective staff, while many other veterans across this country and I are physically harmed by a mask policy that doesn’t have enough sense to include “except for medically acceptable conditions,” and was never a policy, just some bloody marketing signs.  I am beyond insane about having to go to court for being arrested at the VA three times, kicked off property two additional times, and harassed more than 15 times, for being short of breath, denied emergency care, and then had jokes made by the VA Police about my HIPAA controlled data!

The US Marshals have situational authority to assess and bend the mask policy; why does the VA Police not have this ability?  Simple, easy, direct policy question that everyone in the VA refuses to address as having received, let alone answer.  Why are the elected officials SILENT about this problem that is harming the safety and well-being of their constituents?  Why can a congressional inquiry not DEMAND a prompt and timely response from bureaucrats hiding from the public in their offices?

DutyRep. Greg Stanton (D), why are you not more involved personally in DEMANDING the VA to correct their errors?  Do you not realize how many veterans are in your district?  Do you think you can abuse us and through us our families and hope to be re-elected?  You, sir, are in desperate need of correcting your attitude and behavior before your re-election chances are forever harmed.  I promise this article will survive to your utter shame if a prompt and immediate response is not taken!

Dont Tread On MeI have reached the point where I no longer possess anything “cherubic” in my demeanor on this issue!  You cost me time, money, and physical health.  You cost other veterans in the AZ09 Congressional  District the same.  I will find more veterans suffering as I have, as the US Marshals reported that they had seen a massive uptick in veterans being arrested and cited for mask policy violations at the Carl T. Hayden VAMC.  The VAMC, coincidentally located in your Congressional District, is harming veterans. You cannot appear to care, let alone act in a manner befitting your office as a Congressional Representative!  Immediately come out in support and show yourself a true representative worthy of the title of your office, or leave office immediately, there is no third option!

Your need to change; its mandatory!

© 2021 M. Dave Salisbury
All Rights Reserved
The images used herein were obtained in the public domain; this author holds no copyright to the images displayed.

The Perils of a Toxic and Inert Workplace Culture

DutyDandira (2012), in an epic discussion on the origins of organizational cancer, discussed how communication, among other things, breeds organizational cancer.  The author stated what should be obvious, but the government remains oblivious to government agencies and the body’s organizational cancer.  “Responsibility and authority: (the CEO/Executive Chief) he should have the power to hire and fire, especially those who continue to follow the old system of playing political games at the expense of the organization” (Dandira, 2012, p. 191).  Again, while the following is using the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the examples spread like thick peanut butter, or bathtub scum, across all government agencies and NGOs.

Wasting TimeFrom the Department of Veterans Affairs – Office of Inspector of General (VA-OIG) reports, we find:

“Michael Wibracht of San Antonio, Texas, the former owner of several construction companies, defrauded the United States by obtaining government contracts under programs administered by the Small Business Administration for which neither his nor his co-conspirators’ companies were eligible. One co-conspirator, Ruben Villarreal, also of San Antonio, pleaded guilty on Nov. 20, 2020, to participating in the same conspiracy. “The defendants conspired to fraudulently obtain multi-million dollar government contracts under a program designed to benefit service-disabled veterans,” said VA Inspector General Michael J. Missal. “These guilty pleas send a clear message that individuals and companies who defraud the government contracting process for service-disabled veterans will be held accountable.”

VA Inspector General Michael J. Missal, you are 100% incorrect!  Holding third-party contractors responsible for defrauding the VA does not “send a clear message,” nor will any of the actual problems be addressed; hence the fraud will continue, and the taxpayer and veterans will continue to suffer.  A little research into this story reflects that no VA Employees, who had to have been aware of the schemes and aided and abetted the schemes, have been held accountable for dereliction of duty.  Thus, the fraud will continue, and frankly, I wish you would learn this particular lesson!

VA SealDandira’s (2012) point is the hinge upon which fraud will or will not continue, does the executive heads at the hospital, VISN, and D.C. levels have the power and authority to act?  No; they do not, because Congress refuses to grant this power, while also refusing to scrutinize the government properly!  A convoluted mess that should have already been resolved, but the bureaucrats prefer designed incompetence and inertia to perform any work to improve the culture and accountability to the American Citizen and veterans.

Speaking of a culture needing work, the VA-OIG reports:

“Matthew Pizarro, 32, of Stoughton, Massachusetts, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and eight years of supervised release for distribution of fentanyl, one count of distribution of 40 grams or more of fentanyl, and one count of possession with intent to distribute 28 grams or more of crack cocaine. Pizarro was indicted in October 2018 and has been in custody since his arrest in August 2018.”

LookSpeaking to the cultural problems allowing for criminal behavior to be accepted as part of the VA’s normal daily operations, consider visiting the following link.  That link will take you to incidents of failure to correct the criminal and toxic culture at the VA starting from 2013.  Not that the culture began in 2013, but that is as far back as the VA is willing to admit the culture extends from.  For example:

“Lisa M. Hoffman, 48, a former pharmacy technician at East Orange VA Medical Center in New Jersey, was charged with stealing more than $8.2 million worth of HIV medication. Hoffman used her position to order, then steal, large amounts of HIV medication, which she later sold to an associate for cash.”

Detective 3While the last two examples of toxic culture include individuals, I am always impressed with the lack of integrity and the language games to spin a VA-OIG investigation report to more favorably report a Charlie-Foxtrot!  The VA-OIG investigated the use of virtual appointments for primary care during the COVID Pandemic.  Here’s the issue, before the pandemic, the only people regularly using virtual appointments were the psychologists treating individual patients who had the technology.  My Primary Care Provider (PCP) refused to use virtual appointments until last March.  Even then, my current PCP refuses to diagnose, treat, or even answer general health questions using virtual appointments.  The last three appointments using virtual technology have been technological disasters where the sound cut off and on, the picture cut off and on, random noise was broadcast, and nobody can explain how secure the technology is and how it meets HIPAA requirements.  The VA-OIG is crowing and magnanimous about the growth of virtual care appointments using VA Video Connect (VVC) in the VA.

Worse, the virtual appointments using the VVC technology do not come with technical support, so the veteran is left trying to fix connection issues without guidance and assistance.  Training for the VVC technology is either missing or obsolete, and frustration is the only regular VVC technology product.  Go ahead and crow VA-OIG; the veterans stuck using this garbage should have been part of your survey, and the fact that you refused to obtain the veterans’ input tells much about how respectful the VA is about their patients!

InertiaHere is a real-life example of a toxic culture with inert actors in action. It is reminding me of those “Priceless” MasterCard commercials from a few years back!

“This management advisory memo identifies potential risks associated with the Veterans Health Administration’s (VHA) efforts to expedite adding new staff to meet increased demand caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) recognizes the tremendous pressure to hire staff to meet unprecedented needs quickly. To achieve VHA’s goal of bringing all new employees on duty within three days of making a tentative offer, VHA has modified or deferred tasks such as fingerprinting, background investigations, drug testing, credentialing, and preplacement physicals. The potential risks identified by the OIG may threaten VHA’s ability to safeguard veterans’ sensitive information and ensure its workforce is suitable for serving patients at VA medical facilities. The OIG organized these potential risks into three categories: (1) employees who do not have a completed fingerprint-based criminal history check may gain access to sensitive information and controlled substances; (2) delays in processing fingerprints add to a backlog of investigations; (3) onboarding tasks are deferred—such as drug testing and credentialing—that is not being centrally monitored to ensure completion. If realized, these risks could damage the trust veterans have in VA, keeping their information secure and meeting employee suitability standards; this memorandum raises issues for VHA to consider in determining whether vulnerabilities and related processes warrant further review. These include possible changes to centralize governance of deferred actions to improve oversight.”

Scared Eyes!Who says the veterans trust the VA to keep their data secure?  I am amongst thousands of veterans who annually have to track our identity because the VA continues to lose data through the most elementary methods.  Worse, the government is a sieve of escaping personal data from the VA to the OPM; the government keeps losing data.  These VA articles keep mentioning designed incompetence, want to see designed incompetence in action, “VHA has modified or deferred tasks such as fingerprinting, background investigations, drug testing, credentialing, and preplacement physicals… which is not being centrally monitored to ensure completion.”  Change processes, probably never even wrote down the procedures, and then refuse to monitor for completion.  Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot on that Charlie Foxtrot, over!  Please excuse the military axiom; I am mentally blown away that this was approved, put into operation, and then left alone to fester!  When it is discovered that more criminals and nefarious people were hired, who gets the blame; nobody!  It will be COVID-19’s fault, not a mindless and spineless drone!

Detective 4I am personally aware and have reported both on this blog and to the proper authorities (not that they ever cared or did anything), the HIPAA, EMTALA, and other legal abuses of veterans in several VA Hospitals.  Without improvements in operations and providing authority to clean house for those in leadership positions, the VA’s problems will only worsen.  Please be aware; it is not for the lack of money or technology to pinpoint abuses and problems with employees; it is all the inertia of the leadership towards action and the toxic culture which allows and encourages pushing the boundaries that are killing the VA.  The VA requires a cancer operation, where the potential killing growths are removed and the body allowed to heal—healing through better leaders, better-written procedures and policies, and improved communication chains that promote catching the problems before the VA-OIG!

Reference

Dandira, M. (2012). Dysfunctional leadership: Organizational cancer. Business Strategy Series, 13(4), 187-192. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/17515631211246267

© 2021 M. Dave Salisbury
All Rights Reserved
The images used herein were obtained in the public domain; this author holds no copyright to the images displayed.

VISN 22 – The Bureaucrats Operationally Living as Petty Tyrants

Survived the VA23 February 2021:  UPS delivered a letter package containing a single sheet of paper from Dr. Karen MacKichan MD, auto signed, and dated 09 February 2021.  Declaring that the Phoenix VA is absolutely correct in behaving as petty tyrants and denying me medical care, illegally sharing and knowing my HIPAA information with VA Police Officers, breaking EMTALA, and treating me to injuries, all because I cannot safely wear a mask.  My only infraction at the Phoenix VA is not to wear a mask.  Yet, this is considered a “behavioral problem,” and I am wrong for behaving in a manner that insists that my safety comes first!

From June 2020 to date, the charge has been, “Wear a mask or a face shield to receive service in the VA.”  Then, I got arrested while wearing a face shield and told my failure to wear a mask is “disruptive behavior.”  Seriously, not wearing a mask somehow disrupts the entire hospital and keeps it from running efficiently.  Refusing to believe the letter my VA provided Primary Care Provider wrote (August 2020) for my employer regarding my inability to breathe while wearing a mask.  The VA Police have continued to escalate situations to reflect “disruptive behavior patterns.”  Yet, I am the one punished, and I am the one injured; I am the one being denied care.

Literary FiendWhat are petty tyrants?

James Abyad quoted the Urban Dictionary for the definition of petty, which exactly expresses the sentiment of petty.  Urban Dictionary defines petty as “making things, events, or actions normal people dismiss as trivial or insignificant into excuses to be upset, uncooperative, childish, or stubborn.”  It further defines it as “a person who is purposefully childish with the intent of eliciting a reaction,” or “someone who does something in an attempt to hurt another person but makes themselves look stupid.”  Tyrant is a cruel and oppressive ruler, per Webster.  Hence, a Petty Tyrant is a childish, insignificant, oppressive ruler.

Well, Dr. MacKichan, Deputy Chief Medical Officer VISN 22, 300 Oceangate, Suite 700, Long Beach, California, 90802, you are incorrect!  I have followed all written VA directives. Do not assume that it is my fault the Phoenix VAMC leadership cannot write down a COVID Mask Directive and operational policy that supports all veteran health contingencies.  Then train the staff coherently upon written guidelines and directives, and engage in an honest and forthright manner with veterans seeking care.  Where are the written directives governing COVID Mask Wearing?  You claimed to have reviewed all the information; I have asked for these documents and been pointed to a sign.

VA SealOn the topic of written directives, written operational policies, written patient guidelines, and written job descriptions and duties, let’s talk about how the VA Police can injure people and not be held accountable!  The VA Police attacked me on 07 December 2020, violently pushed, then spun into a wall.  My C-and L-Spines did not move, and my T-Spine turned; I dropped like a rock sustaining spinal injuries, knee injuries, and got cut on my right hand and arm.  Worse, being handcuffed with my arms behind my back caused bruised wrists that were jerked by more VA Police officers on 10 December when I sought medical attention.  I am an 80% disabled person with mobility issues, yet your letter claims all the action of the Phoenix VAMC was in accordance with written policies, guidelines, and directives.  Well, I possess a Missouri mindset, “Show ME!”  Show me the written and published policies, guidelines, and procedures that allow VA Police Officers to physically assault patients!  Show me the written and published policies, guidelines, and procedures that allow me to be refused treatment.  Prove through written and accessible documents how the decision for this hodgepodge of ineptitude can label me a “behavioral issue” when my only discretion is not physically and safely wearing a mask!

The Duty of AmericansYou claim to have reviewed the actions of the police officers who routinely have medically protected HIPAA information about people being arrested, joke about this information, act in a manner that brings shame to all Federal Police Officers.  What happens to these unprofessional officers and their despicable commander?  When do my rights to have my HIPAA-protected information withheld from parties who do not need this information?  When do all the other veterans being served and not being served by the Phoenix VAMC become protected under HIPAA?  I am not the only veteran being refused service, denied care, and abused and injured by the VA Police for not wearing a mask, while also not being a “behavioral issue.”

Since your letter proclaims loudly that your review was thorough, independent, and comprehensive, and as the VISN 22 Chief Medical Officer, surely you cannot condone illegal activities being masked by calling a patient a “behavioral issue.”  The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA; 1986), a federal law, requires anyone coming to an emergency department to be stabilized and treated, regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay.  EMTALA was regularly abused at the Albuquerque VAMC, and I reported this issue multiple times. EMTALA’s abuse and illegal activity at the Phoenix, VA Medical Center are worse, and I have reported this issue multiple times.  Twice I have followed my primary care provider’s instructions to report to the VA ER for treatment, and twice I have been refused service.  Thus, what is to be done to correct this obvious deficiency in VISN 22 treatment of veterans, service members, and dependents by VISN 22 emergency medical care providers and the staff, including the VA Police, who should have no influence upon care being received or who should receive care?

Theres moreYour letter discusses “the most effective manner to have the behavioral flag lifted” as “checking-in with the VA Phoenix Police.”  Do you know what that entails?  Did your “thorough, comprehensive, and independent” investigation uncover what happens at this “check-in?”  I was told clearly what happens; I will be evaluated for wearing a mask, found not wearing a mask, arrested, cited, and denied service for not wearing a mask.  Then, I will have a black mark on my behavioral flag record for disorderly conduct!  I am not disorderly in my behavior because I cannot safely wear a mask!  What part of this do you, as a medical doctor, fail to comprehend?

I had my gallbladder removed in a Phoenix hospital (Sept 2020), never had a problem not wearing a mask.  I have had MRIs completed (Aug 2020), never had to wear a mask.  I have been seen three times in an emergency room and never had to wear a mask (Jun 2020, Sept 2020, Jan 2021).  The only medical service provider demanding through compulsion and fear that I wear a mask, which would place my health at risk, is the Phoenix VAMC.  Yet, you as a medical doctor cannot understand this issue, the problems with unwritten policies and directives, leadership failures to train staff properly, and you allow petty authoritarians wearing VA Police Badges to enforce a reign of terror at the VAMC in Phoenix.  Hence, you are part of the problem in failed leadership, poor management, and detestable petty authoritarianism!

InertiaI always interact with the staff at VAMC’s, even when they are wrong, in a respectful manner, knowing that the problems of dumb policies, time-wasting procedures, and bureaucratic inertia are the fault of the leaders hiding in their offices and cubicles.  I have been interacting with the VAMC’s across America, and the inept staff, since I left the service in 2004!  Never having a problem, never having an issue, and never getting injured by or even interacting with VA Police.  This all changed in June 2020.  The VAMC refused to write down a comprehensive directive for COVID Patient Mask Wearing.  I get blamed for following the unwritten policy and directives, then falsely accused of being “disorderly” in my behavior, then falsely accused, again, for being a “behavioral issue!”  I am not in the wrong here!  I am not a “behavior issue!”  I am not disrupting hospital operations, placing other patients at risk, or being violent!  Where are my rights in this farrago and railroading scheme?

Image - Eagle & FlagYour boilerplate response indicates this issue has reached the final point.  I beg to differ!  I will have my name cleared of these false charges.  I will not be blamed for the ineptitude of the leadership at the Phoenix VAMC and VISN 22!  I will not be silent and meek in the corner because you cannot tell the difference between standing for one’s rights against tyranny and compulsion and oppression through bureaucratic fiat!  I have done nothing worthy of these fallacious claims, false accusations, and the Phoenix VAMC and VISN 22 will admit this publicly when I am done cleaning my name of the scum you have thrown upon it!  Make no mistake; I am not angry, but I will have my rights restored, my name clear, and satisfaction from the injuries and treatment I have been made to suffer!

© 2021 M. Dave Salisbury
All Rights Reserved
The images used herein were obtained in the public domain; this author holds no copyright to the images displayed.

Department of Veterans Affairs Chronicles of Shame – Round 2

Survived the VAIn reading the Department of Veterans Affairs – Office of Inspector General (VA-OIG) reports, it never ceases to amaze me the designed incompetence the leaders will stoop to use to thwart criticism.  For example, the length of time a leadership team has served together is an acceptable excuse for not making changes.  Yet, this same excuse is employed year-over-year, and location after location.  It was reported on one inspection summary that the leadership team had been together for 10-years, but recent changes in roles was to blame for the continued lack of compliance.  These are the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) employees who would rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic to obstruct passenger evacuation and blame the passengers for failing to get out of the way of the chair!

In recent reports from the VA-OIG, leaders have been apprised of problems, admitted they were “engaged in finding solutions,” and the VA-OIG gave the leaders a pass along with several additional recommendations to consider.  Yet, given the height and breadth of malfeasance at the VAMC’s where health problems occur, can anyone trust that the leadership team is actually working to resolve the problems?  If the VA-OIG returned unannounced in 3-6 months after the initial complaint, would progress have been made?

The problem with designed incompetence is that these excuses do not just evaporate, the excuses either survive long enough to become organizational design errors, or they are purposefully addressed until resolved.  There is no magic wand, potion, or witches brew that erases designed incompetence; but that is exactly what a person is led to believe when reading the VA-OIG reports.

VA SealThe VA-OIG performs comprehensive healthcare inspections as a regular inspection for the medical treatment facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs – Veterans Health Administration (VHA).  I have personally reviewed hundreds of these reports over the last 10-years of monitoring the VA.  The regular nature of the inspection report indicates some VA healthcare facilities can perform like trained seals for their inspections.  Always, I am left to wonder what the reality in those same facilities looks like.

Albuquerque is a great VAMC to exemplify this point.  One ER room, on the inside of the door, held a blood spot for more than 18-months.  The spot was there and noticed, and reported to the doctor and nurse, when I was in that treatment room in the spring of 2016, and the same spot was still there in the spring of 2019 when chance had me in the same room for another exam.  But cleanliness was never a problem for this VHA facility in the VA-OIG inspection reports.

At the Albuquerque Hospital, in the Emergency Department, it was common to witness homeless veterans be abused by the staff.  The staff justified their actions, beliefs, and biases, where never censured, and physical harm was delivered to the veterans.  No one on the ED leadership team, or on the hospital leadership team, when notified of the problems, ever acted to remedy the situation.  When reported to the OIG, the OIG found no basis for the complaints, but the abuse continues.

LinkedIn VA ImageThe VA-OIG has published an end of year survey of COVID preparation and response to the COVID pandemic by the VHA.  68 separate facilities responded to the invitation.  These same facilities who brag about how quickly they adapted processes and procedures, are the same facilities bemoaning a considerable increase in cancelled appointments and severe reductions in patients served.  Not a single respondent mentioned the draconian measures taken to keep veterans from accessing care or the zealous employees who are enforcing those draconian measures.  No single respondent is discussing the failure to follow EMTALA when patients seeking care are turned away for not wearing a mask.  There is a correlation between patients not being served by the VA and how many are using non-VA facilities, but that is a data point outside the COVID survey, and that data point might not support the hand clapping and cheering by the providers and administrators of VHA facilities.

I cannot see any reason to cheer and clap over the COVID response by the VHA.  When I have accessed the VA Hospitals from Feb to present, the empty halls are a testament to the absurdity of the government response to a viral disease.  Being turned away by a provider for not wearing a mask, after waiting for 45-minutes is a testament to the futility of mask mandates and the uselessness and ineffectiveness of the draconian operating procedures for a virus.  Watching patients coughing their lungs out sitting beside a patient bleeding, and another patient throwing up does not cause me to celebrate the “COVID Response” by the emergency room administrators.  Watching empty treatment rooms sit empty while the waiting room is packed full of people waiting to be seen in an ER is not a cause to celebrate employee retention plans and patient treatment options.

Carl T. HaydenThe Carl T. Hayden facility in Phoenix, has had every one of the same issues in care as any other VHA facility in America, and frankly, the leadership team should be ashamed, disbarred, and unemployed!  Since 1996, I have crisscrossed the continental United States.  I have observed nurses drawing blood or giving shots without gloves, or with fingers ripped off the gloves.  I have witnessed patients with broken bones forced to wait for hours on end because they were homeless, and the nursing staff didn’t want to see that homeless patient one more time.  I have watched dependents turned away from receiving treatment which under EMTALA is illegal.  I have been turned away from treatment multiple times, still illegal under EMTALA.  I have made countless suggestions on how to improve, I have written letters to hospital administrators, VISN leaders, and the Federal VA Leadership all to no avail.  Yet, the VA has the audacity to cheer and congratulate each other on the “fine response to COVID the VA has made.”  Worse, the complaints fell on deaf ears, attached to plastic lips, and hiding vindictive hearts.

Before the VA’s cheers again for their great job fighting a flu virus, remember this, there is nothing to cheer about!  No activity made by the VA from Feb 2020 to present is worthy of cheering, clapping, or congratulations.  No business process has been laudable.  No daily operating procedure is worthy of acclaim.  Not a single event is worth even an honorable mention or a participation trophy.  Your job is to serve the veterans, spouses, and dependents and you are failing your first and only mission!

I-CareShame!  Shame! Shame!  Shame on the elected officials, Republican, Independent, and Democrat, who have allowed this problem to grow and done nothing!  Shame on the myriad of presidents who have done nothing but throw good money after bad, without demanding progress and holding real people responsible for real results!  Shame on every single VA employee who shirks their job for easiness to the detriment, pain, and suffering of a veteran, dependent, or spouse!

© Copyright 2020 – M. Dave Salisbury
The author holds no claims for the art used herein. The pictures were obtained in the public domain, and the intellectual property belongs to those who created the images.
All rights reserved. For copies, reprints, or sharing, please contact through LinkedIn:
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Symptom, Not Disease – A VA Chronicle

Carl T. Hayden10 December 2020, The Carl T. Hayden Phoenix VA Medical Center (VAMC), I was arrested for the third time, hassled for the fifth time, and injured for the third time at the hands of the VA Police over my physical inability to wear a mask. The zealous supervisor of the COVID Screening staff threw a fit, for the second time (first in October, again in December), when I asked him about his authority to refuse me care at the VA under EMTALA. Thus, for the third time, I have been denied emergency care under EMTALA by the Phoenix VAMC. I was taken to Holding Cell 2, where multiple officers of the VA Federal Police Force decided that making jokes about my injuries, claiming I was faking my injuries, and insisting they knew more about my injuries than my doctors was an acceptable VA Policing policy. Major Kratz is the bitter cherry on this “crap sundae,” by entering the room, shaking his sausage-like finger in my face, and accusing me of lying about having created an action plan with Jennifer, the supervisor of Patient Advocacy. A symptom, not the disease!

The Department of Veterans Affairs – Office of Inspector General (VA-OIG) has made some startling reports to Congress. Consider, “U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman announced on 20 November 2020, that a grand jury sitting in Cleveland has returned a 28-count indictment charging William H. Precht, age 53, of Kent, Ohio, with theft of government property, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and honest services fraud, wire fraud, and false statements relating to health care matters.” Let me stress; the defendant remains innocent until proven guilty in a trial of his peers. Still, I also stress this incident cost the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) more than $1,066,348. The scheme was in place from 2010 to 2019, is but another symptom, not the disease, endemic to the VA.

The VA-OIG continues to report, “the owner of a for-profit trade school has been charged with defrauding the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and student veterans, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Erin Nealy Cox.” The defendant, who remains innocent until proven guilty in a court of law by a jury of his peers, defrauded veterans seeking education to the tune of $71 million in GI Bill benefits from the VA and is facing up to 184 years in federal prison. Symptom, not disease, and the VA is full of this type of rot.

VA SealI would never expect a person to believe that the entire VA is full of these symptoms from three examples. Consider that electronic wait-lists, and wait-lists in general, has been a leading cause of death for veterans awaiting care and that the Phoenix VAMC has been in severe trouble on this single issue twice in recent years. Yet, the VA-OIG found, “… wait-list entries were not reviewed and validated as required. Patients were not removed from the wait-list when appropriate, indicating that employees at medical facilities did not review entries daily, and supervisors did not validate the wait-list weekly.” Supervisors not doing their job to oversee work is appropriately performed is the symptom that led to the first two incidents reported in this article. Again, symptoms, not disease.

Another recent example that was buried in “COVID-Media Hysteria,” “Ergonomic office furniture maker Workrite Ergonomics LLC, a Delaware company, and its parent, Knape & Vogt Manufacturing Co. (collectively, Workrite), have agreed to pay $7.1 million to resolve allegations under the False Claims Act that they overcharged the federal government for office furniture under General Services Administration (GSA) contracts, the Department of Justice announced on 3 December 2020.”  This settlement is over a contractual obligation clause to lower prices. “The settlement resolves allegations that Workrite did not fulfill its contractual obligations to provide GSA with accurate information about its commercial sales practices during contract negotiations and did not subsequently extend lower prices to government customers as required by the GSA contract’s price reduction clause.” Not mentioned here are the VA Employees whose job is to monitor the purchases made under the contract, ask questions during contract negotiations, and oversee the contractors and purchasing contracts. Fascinating that the employees responsible for catching these issues early never seem to be held liable for their failures to perform the jobs they have been hired to perform. Symptom, not the disease.

Speaking of symptoms, where supervisors and employees are not performing their jobs properly. “U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray announced on 2 December 2020 that John Paul Cook, 57, of Alexander, N.C. is facing multiple federal charges for defrauding the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (the VA) by receiving veteran benefits based on fraudulent service-connected disabilities from 1987 to 2017.” Thirty-years of VA Disability payments, but no VA employee ever asked if he had a driver’s license or other proof of disability. How is this possible; symptom, not disease!

Military Crests“A Florida attorney, on 1 December 2020, admitted his role in a scheme to extort $7.5 million from a California bank, Attorney for the United States Rachael A. Honig announced. Richard L. Williams, 73, of Miami, Florida, pleaded guilty by video-conference before U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton to an information charging him with conspiracy to transmit an interstate communication with the intent to extort.”  Symptom, not disease!

“A Michigan woman was sentenced on 4 December 2020, to three years and five months in prison after pleading guilty to carrying out a scheme to defraud the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) of more than $1.7 million in veterans benefits, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas A. Trutanich for the District of Nevada.” Where were the IT and IS Controls to check for doubled veterans claims? Where were the employees asking for more information when blood types and other medical records mismatched? Administrative controls at the VA are a symptom, not the disease, and the VA Employees who have aided and abetted in allowing this type of trickery need to be held accountable.

Consider the following quote “VA employees are public servants with a solemn duty to care for our nation’s veterans,” said David Spilker, Special Agent in Charge of the VA OIG’s Southeast Field Office. This quote comes from the following case of fraud where the defendants have pled guilty. “Miller Wilson, Jr. (50, Sparr), his daughter, Myoshi Wilson (26, Citra), and his ex-wife, Erica Wilson (43, Ocala) were sentenced today by Senior United States District Judge James D. Whittemore for their roles in a scheme to defraud the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs health care benefits.” The VA Employee Miller Wilson, Jr., was in charge of VA Payments for non-medical transportation. He established a company to transport VA Patients, received kickbacks for steering work to other companies, and got the other two family members involved in the scheme. Where was his supervisor during all of this “irregular behavior?” Symptom, not the disease.

ProblemsThe VA’s disease comprises numerous large organizations, especially those in the government sector, disconnections between leadership and front-line service providers. This disease goes by several names, but all have the following characteristics:

    • Lack of training
    • Lack of supervision
    • Lack of interest
    • Lack of caring
    • A socially shared sense of entitlement

Frankly, the disease is apathy, compounded by generations of knowledge in protecting oneself to the detriment of all others, including other employees. For example, as an employee, I was physically and verbally assaulted by a senior employee. When another employee and I complained of the maltreatment, the assistant director gave patently false information on how to report the problem, promoted the employee doing the assaulting, and then castigated those who reported this employee’s malbehavior. As the behavior intensified, the director became involved and used other employees on a quid pro quo to remove everyone who reported the employee doing the assaulting.

I-CareBecause this behavior is so ingrained, it has become a defining characteristic and is part of the organizational design. Correcting this behavior requires the same tactic used in pruning trees. Start small, get a core group of people who can work, act, and lead.

  1. Start in the local clinics and hospitals, for the Veterans Benefits Administration and the National Cemetery. Start local, where the worst rot is the most visible.
  2. Write down processes, procedures, operational standards, and behavior guidelines. Once written, begin training, publishing, and speaking about this new managerially acceptable behavior by first living these behaviors.
  3. Start setting organizational examples as fraud and malfeasance raise their heads, remove those involved, promote from within, and train the new leaders using the small core group as mentors.
  4. Cut out the obviously poor growers, first. For example, remove employees for cause, and publicize why. While publicizing why they were removed, communicate the new standards of managerially acceptable behavior.
  5. Train, train, and train. That training is a powerful organizational behavior, cannot be stressed enough. Set exacting standards, do not deviate for the easy and quick, and train others to meet those standards. Training includes mentoring and coaching. Use this opportunity to train, mentor, and coach as tools for encouraging managerially acceptable behaviors that meet the new standards, which begins new growth when the old rot is removed.
  6. Be Brave! Change in an organization requires the same type of bravery that wins soldier medals in battle. Standing when you want to sit is key to pushing back against organizational cancer represented in the current leadership.
  7. Do not quit! Too often, the VA has good intentions, uses valuable marketing tactics, and then drops the delivery ball, and the desired organizational change fizzles. Why does the change fizzle; because the leaders tasked with implementation run out of steam before the entrenched management runs out of excuses. Ending this requires smaller steps and people invested in making the change happen.

Image - Eagle & FlagThe VA has become detestable and is absolutely failing in the VA’s mission, as President Lincoln provided. Get outside the regular hiring pool, demand legislation that allows for change, and begin to prune. The veterans in America are counting on you, the leaders of the VA, to act! Do not let these veterans die because of your apathy and fear!

© Copyright 2020 – M. Dave Salisbury
The author holds no claims for the art used herein. The pictures were obtained in the public domain, and the intellectual property belongs to those who created the images.
All rights reserved. For copies, reprints, or sharing, please contact through LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/davesalisbury/

Patient Health and Safety Concerns – Phoenix, VA Medical Center

Alyshia Smith
Medical Center Director
Carl T. Hayden VA Hospital
650 E Indian School Rd
Phoenix, AZ 85012

08 July 2020

Dr. M. Dave Salisbury Ph.D.
10002 N 7th St
APT 1125
Phoenix, AX 85020

Subject: Healthcare policies that endanger patients.

Dear Ms. Smith,

I have been a patient of the Carl T. Hayden VA Hospital since 1998 when my family first moved to Phoenix.  I was a witness to the award-winning days, and have been a witness to the dead veterans, paper waiting lists, and incredible fall of the Phoenix VA Medical Center.  I want to help fix this VA Medical Center and moved back to Phoenix specifically for this purpose.  As an organizational psychologist, I have made a careful study of the VA, as a patient, as a previous employee, and as a concerned citizen.  I blog about VA issues because “I-Care” about the VA.

One of the first lessons taught me in new hire orientation training, concerned the Emergency Room and the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA; 1986), a federal law that requires anyone coming to an emergency department to be stabilized and treated, regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay.  EMTALA was being abused in the hospital I worked at and I reported this issue.  EMTALA is being abused at the Phoenix, VA Medical Center.  Twice I have followed my primary care providers’ instructions to report to the VA ER for treatment, and twice I have been refused service.

30 June 2020, I was refused service at the VA ER because I cannot wear a mask due to breathing issues.  I was informed upon entering that I could hold the mask in front of my face and this is an acceptable workaround.  Upon entering the ER to be checked in, the office staff refused the information provided at the entrance, and said: “If the mask is not worn, we are refusing service.”  I have had shortness of breath, not lung-related, for many years now and cannot wear a mask.  This information is noted in my VA Medical records.  I have been through several rounds of breathing tests which confirm my lungs work great, but I remain short of breath, and when I wear any mask my problems breathing include lightheadedness, dizziness, nausea, and eventually my vision grays and I pass out.  The original problem was diagnosed at the Salt Lake City VA Medical Center (2010/2011).

08 July 2020, I walked into the VA through the South Entrance.  Not wearing a mask and those performing the COVID check did not offer a mask, offer a face shield, or say anything.  I walked to the ER, the admitting person did not mention my need for a mask, nor did they ask why I was not wearing a mask, I was checked in to be seen in the ER.  I was triaged and the triage nurse did not say anything about a mask.  I sat in the ER for 3-hours and none of the medical staff, hospital staff, employees, or Federal Officers walking past ever mentioned the need for a mask.  I walked to the Patriot Store feeling sick because of diabetes and needing food.  On my way, an employee whines about me not wearing a mask, and I ignore this person as my medical information is private and I should not have to explain to every nosy-nelly about why I am not wearing a mask.  I go to complete my purchases and suddenly the VA Police, who were called by the unknown VA Employee, are there insisting I need to wear a mask.  I explained, for the first of at least 40-times that I cannot physically wear a mask to protect my health and safety.

I realize the VA Police are executioners of policies that they have no say in forming and I refused to be anything less than professional as we walked back to the ER.  By the time I arrive back in the ER, my police escort has grown from 2 to 7 or 8, led by one plainclothes person claiming to be a Lieutenant and the other was a uniformed Lieutenant.  My intransigence at wearing a mask was not disorderly conduct, but a patient safety issue. I have a hard time breathing and when I must speak, this exacerbates my breathing condition.  I was accused of yelling, and before I could explain, I am being threatened with being arrested, cited, and thrown out of the VA ER.  By this time, I am in trouble physically and neurologically, between diabetes and my need for food, and the neurological condition I suffer through, my stress levels are making a bad situation worse.

A person identifying themselves as a doctor handed me a face shield and my wearing of the face shield did not stop the harassment from the VA Police over not wearing a mask.  During my conversations with Timothy Mikulski from the Patient Advocates Office after the last time, I was refused care illegally at the VA ER, I was told wearing a face shield is acceptable.  Thus, when I put the face shield on, I was expecting to be left alone.  Instead, I was demanded to either wear a mask or be arrested.  My third threat in less than 5-minutes for not wearing a mask, even though I now had the face shield properly worn for the same 5-minutes.

Eventually, I am arrested, I experience a seizure where I fell to the floor and injured my knee, then was hit repeatedly in the spine while being “patted down,” which continued to collapse my legs and increase my pain.  I was handcuffed to a bench in a holding cell where I bruised my right wrist because my seizures include my arms jerking and with one arm handcuffed to an immovable bench, I could not control my body and the handcuff was not allowing my involuntary movements increasing patient harm.  I have a bruise and scratches from the handcuff on my right wrist.

Here is the problem, the policy for wearing a mask does not have exclusions for those of us who cannot wear a mask.  Thus, wearing a mask creates more health problems, the potential for injury, and issues for the medical staff who are already overworked.  If a face shield is acceptable as a replacement for a mask, why was my wearing the face shield insufficient to closing the police issue?  If a face shield is not acceptable as a replacement for the mask, why is the patient advocates claiming this is acceptable?  If wearing a mask is so important, why was no one bothered by my not wearing a mask until the nosy employee called the Federal Police?

I sat in the bench seat beside the bookshelf in the ER.  Multiple officers, staff, and more walked past and no one was bothered, no one said anything, no one made any fuss over my not wearing a mask for three full hours while I was waiting in the ER.  Even when I interacted with the employee’s passing nobody made any comments.  This is a failure of policy, or it is the unfair harassment of a single person by overzealous police officers.

Let us talk about access to medical records.  The Federal Officers harassing me, sent one of their own to view my medical record for a statement from my PCP regarding my inability to wear a mask for health reasons.  I told the officers what they would find, “Records pertaining to my being diagnosed with shortness of breath and difficulty breathing.”  They claimed that since those records were from my time in Albuquerque, I was “blowing rainbows up their butts.”  Hence, even if my medical records had reported a message from my PCP, I would still have been in the wrong.

From my time as an employee, Medical Support Assistant, VA ER, Albuquerque, I know that the police do not have a reason to be surfing my medical records.  Yet, in the holding cell, I heard them discussing my medical records, my mental health diagnosis and cracking wise about details in my medical folder.  How did they get my medical records?  Why did they have possession of my medical records?  What is the purpose of the police having access to my personal medical files?

I freely admit, by the time the VA Police handcuffed me, my “cherub-like demeanor” had melted away.  When I am in extensive pain, I cannot think clearly, speak coherently, and my ability to suffer fools and liars is non-existent.  But this entire affair was brought about by a policy that does not make sense, a nosy employee who does not need to know my medical history and two overzealous lieutenants who need their ego’s clipped!

Another issue, why is my full SSN, DOB, and Full Name printed on the triage wrist bands?  Why are all VA ER patient’s data displayed in human-readable data on the wristbands?  This is a HIPPA and PII security issue that was supposed to have been corrected back in 2014.  Human readable data being bandied about places patients at greater risk for having their identity stolen.  This is especially true on an item regularly thrown away.  As someone who has followed the VA problems with protecting veterans, protecting data, and adhering to rules and regulations, I find this lapse highly questionable.

The following is requested:

  1. Remove the arrest and cancel the citations.
  2. Correct the policy.
  3. Train so the policy is properly applied, fairly communicated, and a standard is set. Removing individual adaptation and personal interpretation.
  4. Correct the PII on the wrist bands and other printed patient documents to protect the identity of the veterans. This is a simple fix of programming and your IT department should be able to complete this task easily.

Thank you for your prompt response in this regard.

Sincerely,

Dr. M. Dave Salisbury Ph.D./MBA

© Copyright 2020 – M. Dave Salisbury

The author holds no claims for the art used herein, the pictures were obtained in the public domain, and the intellectual property belongs to those who created the pictures.

All rights reserved.  For copies, reprints, or sharing, please contact through LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/davesalisbury/

Let’s Talk About the VA – The Insanity Must Cease!

I-CareWhen the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) does something good, I praise them.  The VA recently had a good report come from the Department of Veterans Affairs – Office of Inspector General (VA-OIG), apparently there was progress made in improving performance once policies were written down, training of employees occurred, and over time there has been an improvement, however small and seemingly insignificant.  I offer my sincerest congratulations on making progress and change on this issue.

Carl T. HaydenHowever, I will castigate and deride all abuses of veterans, myself included.  At the Phoenix VA Medical Center, the Carl T. Hayden VA Hospital remains a hotbed of bureaucrats on a power trip weekend from Dante’s first ring.  The abuses at this hospital continue and the leadership needs to be corrected!

For those who do not remember, the Carl T. Hayden VA Hospital in Phoenix, AZ used to be an award-winning hospital, a pillar of good performance, and an example of how VA Hospitals could be run.  Then, the director was changed, the hospital staff changed, awards stopped coming, and veterans started dying.  Leading to the fiasco of dead veterans on paper waiting lists, during Pres. Obama’s reign.  CNN reported on April 30, 2014, that at least 40 United States Armed Forces veterans died while waiting for care at the Phoenix, Arizona, Veterans Health Administration facilities.

On 29 June 2020, I reported to the VA ER sick and in desperate need of assistance.  The assistance was refused because I cannot physically wear a mask.  In my medical records, it is noted that I suffer from shortness of breath and any mask exasperates this problem.  In direct violation of Federal Law that commands all emergency rooms to see whoever walks in, the ER staff refused me service due to the “Mask Policy” as part of their “Covid-19 response.”  No options, no exceptions, no excuses, I as the patient could either endanger my health or find a different hospital ER.

The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA; 1986) is a federal law that requires anyone coming to an emergency department to be stabilized and treated, regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay.  EMATALA also dictates that no person can be refused treatment in any Emergency Room.  The EMTALA is not new and is part of the training from day one for all staff at the VA.  For ER staff, this is the golden ticket and special care is taken to ensure this law is followed to the letter; rather, this law is supposed to be the premier standard from which good health care policy is built for emergency rooms.  Except, the Carl T. Hayden VA Hospital in Phoenix, AZ., and the Raymond G. Murphy VA Hospital in Albuquerque, NM., both appear to be the exception to EMTALA, by order of the staff bureaucrats, who are supported in their illegal and nefarious behavior by the hospital administration collectively, and the hospital leadership specifically.

Raymmond G. MurphyI have written previously of the patient abuse I witnessed, and reported, at the Raymond G. Murphy VA Hospital, in Albuquerque, NM.  I have written about the patients turned away by nurses and other staff because these staff members refused to follow the law.  I reported the risks and problems being run by refusing patients in the ER, and this all fell on deaf ears.  Well, I will not stop raising this illegal practice as a major concern for the hospital leadership all the way to Secretary Wilkie and the elected officials in Congress who refuse to act to improve the toxic culture found in the VA.

You, the bureaucrats in the VA cannot break the law with impunity and your actions are leading to major patient safety concerns, increased hospital operating costs, and putting real people in real harm!  I spent more than an hour in the VA Parking lot trying to calm my breathing down to safely operate a motor vehicle, so as to drive to a different hospital emergency room, where I was treated without ever having to deal with the mask issue.  While in the VA Parking lot, I was attended to by three Federal Police Officers who were willing to try and get me seen at the ER but were stuck trying to force the “Mask Policy,” regardless of my physical inability to wear a mask without causing additional harm and injury.  The Federal Officers were called because the ER staff reported a violent and non-responsive patient had just left the building.  I was both responsive and never violent in the ER.  Regardless of the fact that I was extremely short of breath, unable to walk, and unable to be seen at the VA.  When the officers found me in the parking lot, I could barely breathe and was so weak from lack of oxygen that I was graying out in vision and other major issues; thus, how the ER staff can say I was violent and non-responsive is beyond my comprehension.

The behavior of the ER Staff at the Carl T. Hayden VA Hospital in Phoenix is beyond the pale and bordering on obscene, as well as illegal!  Where is the accountability?  Where is the patient advocate?  Where is the Administrator on Duty who has the power to demand corrective action?  Where is the rightful opposition; well, I know where the rightful opposition is, it is buried with the dead veterans, who died awaiting care at the hands of the VA!

VA SealWhere is the patient advocate in this problem; well, that night after being refused care I reported the problem to the patient advocates office via secure message, and the following morning, the patient advocate replies that “It is VA policy to mandate all people wear masks if they desire treatment.”  Not caring about the federal laws governing ER visits, not even bothering to mention that the treatment by the staff as reported was ludicrous and vile, and not even to bother to ask if I was seen elsewhere.  Just a brief, less than 100-word, statement telling me my concerns for my safety and health are not important and policy must come first.  The perfect bureaucrat, with the most detestable response it has been my displeasure to experience since the last time I visited the DMV.

I am sorry but everyone is required to wear a mask at the VA Facility. I understand you may have shortness of breath but you can wear a mask and undo one side every couple of minutes. This is for your safety and the others around you.

T. C. M. [Name Shortened for Privacy]
Patient Advocate

Will someone please explain how this can occur?  Will an elected official please demand a behavior change at the VA, and remain interested long enough to facilitate the solutions Sec. Wilkie needs to effect change?  How many veterans will have to die needlessly at the hands of the VA before the elected officials decide that veterans’ lives matter and the VA is taking our lives?

I get it, there are a lot of problems in America, and more in the world.  But, the US House of Representatives, instead of passing a budget, which they are statutorily mandated to do, is writing letters, and meddling in Israel’s business.  If the US House has the time to meddle and jump down every rabbit hole on the political landscape, they must have time to assist the veterans and improve the VA.  If the US Senate has the time to meddle, postulate, and pander, then they have the time to review the plethora of VA-OIG reports and begin assisting the VA Secretary in correcting the problems in the VA.

The saga continued this over the first two days of July and forms the bitter cherry on top of the crap sundae the VA is trying to serve the veterans.  I received a call from my primary care provider’s nurse who has the attitude of supreme petty authoritarian to a lesser subject, reminding me several times that the mask policy was political, trying to blame all hospitals in the region of implementing a similar policy (which is fake), and then trying to excuse himself by claiming he was just a messenger and not involved in the policy implementation.  Concluding the call, with the temerity to tell me that I was in the wrong to not follow VA policy.  The patient advocate had the effrontery of sending a message to me stating that I should have asked for a full-face shield instead of a mask.  Seeing as no face shields were offered as a workaround, seeing as the policy enforcers demanding only a mask as the single viable and allowed option, and seeing as I spent more than an hour while in extreme pain trying to be seen to no avail, none of that mattered, the patient was at fault, per the patient advocate.

LinkedIn VA ImageMy cherub-like demeanor has taken a bloody beating over this incident.  Worse, my health has suffered tremendously and I have had to question myself and my advocacy of the VA.  The behavior of the bureaucrats and petty authoritarians of the VA at the Carl T. Hayden VA Hospital in Phoenix, AZ is detestable, and I can only conclude and wonder if I am having these problems, what are less outspoken and less knowledgeable veterans suffering?  I will not be the quiet little mouse in the corner where my safety and the safety of other veterans are being endangered by the politics and illegal actions of Federal Employees.  The policy is wrong and needs immediate revision before more veterans die at the hands of the VA!I-Care

© Copyright 2020 – M. Dave Salisbury

The author holds no claims for the art used herein, the pictures were obtained in the public domain, and the intellectual property belongs to those who created the pictures.

All rights reserved.  For copies, reprints, or sharing, please contact through LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/davesalisbury/