Atlanta Forward readers commented on last week’s columns about the Atlanta VA Medical Center trying to rebound from a crisis, in which a federal audit found “pervasive mismanagement” may have played a part in veterans’ suicides. Here is a sample of comments from our blog:
Wwoodwo: I am a Vietnam-era noncombat veteran. I should say that the hands-off veterans benefits were pretty good, and I made full use of them. But whenever I had some direct contact with the VA, it just made my blood boil. The last time I went, years and years ago, I realized that if I ever went again, I would be leaving in a police car. Looking back, I'm still not sure whether it was because the VA was a nearly unmovable bureaucracy, or because it represented something. I sense this same undercurrent whenever folks are interviewed about the VA.
Veteran Hospital Worker: As a worker at the Atlanta VA, I can honestly state that I take great pride in taking care of our veterans. The management over the years has become more focused on data and performance measures and have separated themselves from most front-line workers. Many areas don't have regular staff meetings, and managers stay behind locked office doors. Workers fear managers, because the only time they show up is when their necks are on the line, and there has been an incident that gets reported. Workers are often blamed for problems that are systemic. Please require management at all levels to make rounds more often and get to know workers at all levels.
MrLiberty: Government central planning has never worked. It cannot ever work as there is no price/value structure that is essential to the proper allocation of resources. The VA has been a joke from the beginning. Face it, soldiers, the warfare state only sees you as a means to its end of empire building and resource acquisition. … We don't fight wars to defend liberties or freedoms, as the only enemies who are destroying them are in Washington, D.C., and the capitals of each state. We destroy nations so that bankers, building contractors and weapons manufacturers can get filthy rich in the aftermath.
Corey: The private sector can simply threaten to fire whistle-blowers and lock the doors when a news van pulls up out front, but public-sector entities are open to the general public. Thus, more eyes, more scrutiny, more oversight. Everyone has a say, and it snowballs as the cameras roll. I'm not saying improvements can't be made at the VA, but with a sudden boom in patients returning from two simultaneous wars, plus aging Vietnam-era vets, peacetime vets injured on active duty and retired vets, mistakes will be made. My personal experience with the VA has been very good. Visit on any given weekday. It's open to the general public. The activity there is dizzying.
