Thumper.... VA

Been real busy lately and to be honest, I haven't heard a word about it. Guess I'll have to do a net search and get up with the times. No clue which hospital(s) is/are involved, but from personal experience, I have zero complaints. If I need an appointment, I call and get one ... if it's a pressing matter, I get one right away. I have a Primary Care physician here in town (there is no hospital here) and that's where I go for normal "Dr. visit stuff" ... check-ups, blood tests, inoculations, etc. etc. It's a close relationship and many know me by name there ... like a "normal" family doctor atmosphere in a way. As an example, I get a flu shot every year. One day we were driving to visit friends and were passing by the VA clinic ... at the last minute, I said to Lynn, "Pull in here" and told her we're in the area, I'd drop in and get my flu shot. She dropped me at the door and went to park the car (small lot). I was coming out the door as she was coming in! I'd already had my shot. If I happen to go to the hospital, they have multiple desks scattered around various floors when it's "flu shot" time and I'll simply stop, hand them my card, they stick me, hand me my card and I'm out the door. EXTREMELY quick, simple and efficient.

If I need specialized care ... say, my Primary Care physician schedules me for a CAT scan (exactly how they stumbled upon my aneurysm), she sends me to the main hospital in Tampa (30-35 min. drive). ANY time I have an issue that I consider "pressing" and don't have time to wait for an appointment, I go to the Emergency Room and they evaluate me. If it's NOT an emergency and they aren't busy, they take care of me on the spot. If it's a non-emergency and they ARE busy, they'll scoot me right into the hospital to be seen by another (non-emergency room) doctor.

When Lynn and I were in L.A. a couple years ago, there was a bug tearing through her whole family. Her mom was very sick and we took her to her regular, family doctor (no appointment). We waited 4 1/2 hours for her to be seen. The next day, I was sick as a dog ... in fact I was so sick, Lynn and her mom rushed me to the Los Angeles V.A. I figured that would be an exercise in frustration as I doubt there's a busier VA hospital in the country. There was going to be a pretty long wait as everyone waiting already had appointments, so they sent us down to another floor where I was seen by a doctor, given an injection and a prescription and we were on the way to the parking lot in under 2 hours. Lynn's mom couldn't believe it took her over twice as long to see her regular, family doctor. To be honest, I was amazed myownfineself.

SO .. that doesn't mean there are no problems ... I've just never personally experienced any and in fact, have nothing but praise for what I've seen of the system. That said, there are elebenty-bazillion VA hospitals ... I can't say that none of them have problems. No different that any other institution I suppose.

Heck, we have a huge private hospital here in town. Years ago, Lynn had a MAJOR problem (was peeing blood ... lots of it!). It was about 10:00 PM and I ran her straight to the Emergency Room. They checked her in and whisked her back to an exam room to see a doctor. I took a seat in the waiting room. After a couple hours I went to the desk and asked for an update. I was told to wait and they'd update me as soon as they had some information. I repeated the process a couple hours later and was assured they'd fill me in as soon as they knew something. After that, I fell asleep in the waiting room. The next morning, I was awakened as the shift-change was taking place (7:00 - 8:00 am?). I went up to the new desk crew to inquire about Lynn's status and they scanned their list. Nothing. They asked a few more questions and ... nothing. They then took me behind the desk, pointed to a big blackboard on the wall and asked if I see her name on the board. "No". We walked back through the emergency room exam rooms and when the nurse opened one of the doors, we found Lynn lying on a gurney sound asleep! They took her back there and totally forgot she was there. She'd been in that room all night and NOBODY even knew she was there! It turned out to be a simple bladder infection, but if she'd been bleeding internally she'd have bled out right there in that room! To make matters worse, I had to cancel all my jobs lined up for that day and she had to take the day off work as we were pretty frazzled by then.