Veterans may soon get medical help in Key West

BY JOHN L. GUERRA

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

Key West military veterans who must endure a 14-hour day in a small van and packed Miami VA hospital waiting rooms to get MRIs and other medical procedures may soon receive the same medical services in Key West.

In addition to hiring established local doctors, specialists, and labs to treat vets who live more than 40 miles from federal VA hospitals, a bill to overhaul the VA health system awaiting President Obama’s signature is designed to beef up medical staff, lease better buildings and medical equipment, and improve the reporting and follow-up systems to ensure veterans on waiting lists are given proper medical treatment in the right order.

Congressional hearings showed the US Veterans Administration medical system as not only chaotic and understaffed, but mismanagement of scheduling may have meant the deaths of some 900 veterans while awaiting appointments around the country, according to national news accounts.

George Brentnall, director of the Monroe County Veterans Affairs office, said he has been closely following the news stories about incompetence and administrative nightmares in national VA Healthcare System.

And he does see how difficult it is for county veterans to get medical treatment in the Miami VA Healthcare System.

“The US Veterans Administration Inspector General went through all the VA hospitals, their records, throughout the country and found that they were overwhelmed and broke, and didn’t have enough space to treat veterans,” he told KonkLife. “When we take vets up to Miami, the waiting rooms are packed, it’s awful.”

Monroe County’s 10,000 veterans–of World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, Afghanistan and the invasion of Iraq, and other nameless missions–should benefit from the $17 billion makeover of the system, Brentnall said.

“We’re hoping we’ll get more services in Key West so veterans won’t have to go all the way to Miami for medical care,” he said.

But it’s anyone’s guess when the changes to the system will hit South Florida, he added.

Key West veterans have had good doctors available for them on this end of U.S. 1, Brentnall said, but there’s still a long wait to see doctors here.

The VA facility in Key West had three doctors until May 1, when one resigned, he said. That left two doctors to treat Lower Keys veterans at the clinic, but the clinic responded when Brentnall and vets complained about the wait time.

“It was taking up to three months to get an appointment in Key West, so they hired a contract doctor,” he said. “The VA in Miami sent down a doctor.”

Key West vets can get chemotherapy and dialysis on the island now, but for many other services and medical tests, they have to board one of the vans the county VA provides and ride the long highway to Miami for half a day, Brentnall said.

“Right now, we transport vets in a van daily up there to appointments, and we leave about 5:30 a.m. and return at 6:30 p.m. which makes for an incredibly long day,” he said. “Then there’s the wait time. Certain clinics up in Miami are packed, and the waiting lists for MRIs can be up to three months. If you need to see a specialty doctor, such as for hearing damage, cataracts, optical issues, the wait can be four months.”

Brentnall said he and Key West VA physicians are always asking the Miami VA hospital to clarify rules on what medical costs will be waived by the VA system. Also, Brentnall communicates with the Miami VA hospital chief’s office regularly to verify scheduling for his clients. It’s an ongoing effort, he said.

In June, U.S. Rep. Joe Garcia met with Paul Russo, the administrator of the Miami VA Healthcare System and questioned him about the system’s failure to handle the needs of Keys and Dade County veterans.

The money from the bill will be sent to VA healthcare regions nationwide and in foreign countries. The money that’s sent to repair Miami’s processes will probably be managed by Russo. But the money won’t be spent until a plan is in place in each region that addresses problems specific to those regions.

Brentnall said he’ll put in his two cents.

“We have a good relationship with the Miami VA,” he said. “I’m going up there in the near future to talk to Russo about what happens down here.”

 

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