New VA Director Can’t Get Enough Doctors, Rejects Outside Doctors

New VA Director Can’t Get Enough Doctors, Rejects Outside Doctors


The VA remains the same schizophrenic and dysfunctional mess.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/09/us/politics/needing-to-hire-chief-of-va-tries-to-sell-doctors-on-change-.html?_r=0

His strategy faces skepticism on Capitol Hill, where Republicans will control both houses of Congress. Describing the $17 billion package Congress passed this summer to stabilize the department, he told students at Dartmouth that the House “really didn’t want to give too much of anything.” Some Republicans have also expressed more interest in shrinking the V.A. by giving more work to private doctors using vouchers than in expanding its payroll. Mr. McDonald rejects that idea.

“It’s not going to work if you give out vouchers,” he said in an interview, saying that would erode three interdependent V.A. missions — treatment, research and teaching.

He acknowledged that it would be difficult to hire as many doctors as the department needed, no matter how much funding he had. “What I’m worried about now is: Can I get all these doctors and nurses in the door? Can I land that many?” he said.

Let’s sum up…

1. The VA has a huge budget

2. The VA can’t get enough doctors and nurses no matter how much money it gets

3. The VA’s director is playing the same game as the NHS, defending the institution, rather than helping Vets get care

If you can’t get enough medical staff, then the only way to deal with the shortages and wait times is to use outside doctors. McDonald is prioritizing the institution over veterans.

That’s what caused the mess in the first place.

Many view Mr. McDonald’s efforts as part of a broader fight to limit privatization, a trend that he warns would leave veterans in the care of providers unfamiliar with their issues.

“Imagine if you are a veteran, and you fought in Afghanistan or Iraq, and you have post-traumatic stress, and you are going to your primary-care, private-sector physician, and you are expecting them to be as knowledgeable on post-traumatic stress,” he said. “You’re not going to get the care you need, and you will have more suicides. So I don’t think there is a substitute.”

That’s a reasonable position and it’s part of why the VA should exist. But every single medical professional seen by vets does not need to be familiar with PTSD issues. Furthermore it would be possible to provide vouchers to priority doctors that either already have the experience or get the necessary training and experience. McDonald is bringing young doctors on board with no experience treating vets. Wouldn’t it be a better idea to provide vouchers to doctors who have experience treating vets?

Finally, if it’s a choice between waiting three months for a test (which doesn’t require PTSD familiarity) or a voucher, why not provide the voucher? Nobody benefits from three months waiting to see a doctor.


Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is a New York writer focusing on radical Islam. He is completing a book on the international challenges America faces in the 21st century.

http://josephfreedomoranarchy.blogspot.com/2014/07/donate-and-support-veterans-project_30.html