Anyone else extremely underwhelmed by military medical facilities, doctors etc

[bill5]

Just wondering. I have dealt with them and/or seen and heard many many accounts of them over the years and long ago concluded I wouldn't let the military ever do anything more medically advanced than give me a tetnus shot if I could help it.

 

[uscitizen]

But the Dole/Albright commission under Bush swore they would fix all of that.

 

[whitehall]

Just wondering. I have dealt with them and/or seen and heard many many accounts of them over the years and long ago concluded I wouldn't let the military ever do anything more medically advanced than give me a tetnus shot if I could help it.

Are you a Vet Bill? Just curious. I warn you if you say yes I'll be asking questions.

 

[bill5]

Not sure what you mean by "vet bill" - I am a 20 yr retiree.

 

[whitehall]

What service?

 

[bill5]

No offense but I'm not into "20 questions" and what branch is not really relevant as I've been treated (and have first-hand knowledge of others treated) at Army, Navy, and Air Force facilities.

You?

 

[High_Gravity]

No offense but I'm not into "20 questions" and what branch is not really relevant as I've been treated (and have first-hand knowledge of others treated) at Army, Navy, and Air Force facilities.

You?

You don't have to answer if you don't want to.

 

[lilbug]

Just wondering. I have dealt with them and/or seen and heard many many accounts of them over the years and long ago concluded I wouldn't let the military ever do anything more medically advanced than give me a tetnus shot if I could help it.

Not sure it's fair to lump all military facilities, or all doctors and employees of these facilities together as inept.

Having said that, I know when my father was an inpatient at a very large VA hospital my issue was more with the civil service employees, who, IMO, some were lazy, arrogant, irritated by family members, complacent in their jobs due to the fact that they were civil service employees and it takes a huge act of negligence, neglect, poor job performance, etc., to fire them, and they knew it. I aksed one of them where I could locate a wheelchair to wheel my father outside for a visit with the family. I asked three times and then just stood there, when the nurse saw I wasn't going to move on, without a word, she threw a clipboard on the counter, huffed out of her seat and went and jerked up open a closet where there were wheelchairs and huffed off. All she had to do is direct me to the closet less than 3 feet away I would have gotten the wheelchair myself.

At the clinic where I get care, I love my doctor. He takes time with me, has a very caring and patient nature. Answers my questions and does not ever make me feel like he is rushing or I'm a bother. The support staff there, however, the lady at the front desk and the nurse, are about as rude as they come, like the folks being seen are a nuisance and they can't be bothered with just being courteous. There apperance is atrocious, wearing flip-flops and faded, worn-out shorts to work. In the private sector, you are required to wear a unfiorm, scrubs or suitable street clothes, and open-toed shoes of any kind are not allowed. If I had talked to any of the patients they way the gals at my clinic talk to those vets, I'd have been fired on the spot. The lady at the front desk called me out loudly, so the entire waiting room and a doctor could hear, that I was last for my visit...I informed her my paperwork indicated I was actually to be there 15 minutes later than I arrived. She said she didn't think that happened....I pulled the paperwork out and showed her she was wrong.

If you're experiencing inept behavior with anyone, you need to confront them on it and let someone in charge know.

 

[bill5]

Not sure it's fair to lump all military facilities, or all doctors and employees of these facilities together as inept.

I'm certainly not saying they ALL are by any means. That would be ridiculous. I mean in general.

Having said that, I know when my father was an inpatient at a very large VA hospital

I was talking about active duty facilities - VA hospitals from what I gather are far worse.

my issue was more with the civil service employees, who, IMO, some were lazy, arrogant, irritated by family members, complacent in their jobs

Anyone who's been around federal govt for any length of time is not exactly shocked by that. They are notorious slugs.

due to the fact that they were civil service employees and it takes a huge act of negligence, neglect, poor job performance, etc., to fire them, and they knew it.

Yep. If you hear of one getting fired let me know, because that is about as common as Haley's comet.

I aksed one of them where I could locate a wheelchair to wheel my father outside for a visit with the family. I asked three times and then just stood there, when the nurse saw I wasn't going to move on, without a word, she threw a clipboard on the counter, huffed out of her seat and went and jerked up open a closet where there were wheelchairs and huffed off. All she had to do is direct me to the closet less than 3 feet away I would have gotten the wheelchair myself.

Again, what a shock....

At the clinic where I get care, I love my doctor. He takes time with me, has a very caring and patient nature. Answers my questions and does not ever make me feel like he is rushing or I'm a bother.

That's great! My experience w/the docs has been very mixed, but the %s aren't great.

The support staff there, however, the lady at the front desk and the nurse, are about as rude as they come, like the folks being seen are a nuisance and they can't be bothered with just being courteous.

Again, big surprise. They're like spoiled children. If you let someone get away with something, it's only going to embolden them and get worse. Why the govt doesn't get this and/or doesn't care I'll never know.

There apperance is atrocious, wearing flip-flops and faded, worn-out shorts to work.

Ah the trailer park/ghetto element; isn't it great?

In the private sector, you are required to wear a unfiorm, scrubs or suitable street clothes, and open-toed shoes of any kind are not allowed.

To be fair, this is not really so. They do usually have a professional appearance though and on avg far better than ther others - ie your overall point is well taken.

If you're experiencing inept behavior with anyone, you need to confront them on it and let someone in charge know.

I agree. And it does go with doctors too. I got once as far as going to see a med unit's commander on the spot because a Major with an attitude decided he couldn't be bothered to see me (I had come from out of state) because I was 5 whole minutes late (due to an accident on the highway, even tho I left well ahead of schedule). Commander wasn't in but his staff got an earful. I was seen.

 

[Ringel05]

No offense but I'm not into "20 questions" and what branch is not really relevant as I've been treated (and have first-hand knowledge of others treated) at Army, Navy, and Air Force facilities.

You?

You don't have to answer if you don't want to.

And we don't have to believe him if we don't want to. His response raises...... how shall I say it nicely........ red flags.

 

[whitehall]

No offense but I'm not into "20 questions" and what branch is not really relevant as I've been treated (and have first-hand knowledge of others treated) at Army, Navy, and Air Force facilities.

You?

I don't have to deal with the issue. It's your enchalada bill and it looks like you never served in the US Military.

 

[Lokiate]

Just wondering. I have dealt with them and/or seen and heard many many accounts of them over the years and long ago concluded I wouldn't let the military ever do anything more medically advanced than give me a tetnus shot if I could help it.

Depends on the facility. When I was stationed in a little airstrip in the middle of nowhere Korea, the TMC there sucked. They had one PA for an entire battalion, and two companies, the facility was the size of a corner store, and they had no medics, just Soldiers who got voluntold to be everything from paper-pushers, to giving Soldiers shots. The facility in Yongsan, however, was pretty decent. It was like a real hospital, there were actual doctors, and a separate TMC for sick calls. In my present duty station, WSMR, we have a decent facility, nothing really to write home about, but if you have a medical issue between the hours of 9-5, monday-friday, you're good to go. Anything else, you have to go to Las Cruces or Bliss.

 

[Lokiate]

But the Dole/Albright commission under Bush swore they would fix all of that.

Yeah, suits say a lot of things.

 

[Mr Natural]

Do you really think the best and brightest of the med school graduates join the military?

 

[bill5]

And we don't have to believe him if we don't want to. His response raises...... how shall I say it nicely........ red flags.

No you don't. Although why you think I would lie about it and the "red flag" remarks are beyond me.

I don't have to deal with the issue.

Then why did you even respond to the thread? Just to be nosy?

looks like you never served in the US Military.

Again it really doesn't matter to me whether you believe I served or not, esp for some brilliant reason like I won't answer your questions. FYI I am stingy about giving out even very general personal info online for the same reason I didn't just give my new dentist my SSN. There is no need to know and handing out such things unnecessarily is IMO stupid. To each their own I guess.

 

[bill5]

Just wondering. I have dealt with them and/or seen and heard many many accounts of them over the years and long ago concluded I wouldn't let the military ever do anything more medically advanced than give me a tetnus shot if I could help it.

Depends on the facility. When I was stationed in a little airstrip in the middle of nowhere Korea, the TMC there sucked. They had one PA for an entire battalion, and two companies, the facility was the size of a corner store, and they had no medics, just Soldiers who got voluntold to be everything from paper-pushers, to giving Soldiers shots. The facility in Yongsan, however, was pretty decent. It was like a real hospital, there were actual doctors, and a separate TMC for sick calls. In my present duty station, WSMR, we have a decent facility, nothing really to write home about, but if you have a medical issue between the hours of 9-5, monday-friday, you're good to go. Anything else, you have to go to Las Cruces or Bliss.

Seems to me that the Army is worst of all. Landstuhl *shudder* I almost had a unit commander there up on charges. He had his little admin receptionists making medical determinations on walk-ins ie whether they were "really sick" or not. Brilliant eh?

Do you really think the best and brightest of the med school graduates join the military?

I think you know the answer.

 

[bodecea]

Not sure what you mean by "vet bill" - I am a 20 yr retiree.

My wife and I are both 21 yr retirees and we (and our daughter) are on TriCare and are quite happy with it. Of course, we live in an area with a very large military presence too.

 

[Lokiate]

Seems to me that the Army is worst of all. Landstuhl *shudder* I almost had a unit commander there up on charges. He had his little admin receptionists making medical determinations on walk-ins ie whether they were "really sick" or not. Brilliant eh?

The PA at K-16 told me I was having issues with my ankle because I was fat (at the time I was 165, at 5'8). An x-ray weeks after revealed that I had fractured my ankle in an accident a year prior, and it set wrong. He was the same guy that treated me then... he said it was just a sprain, and getting an x-ray from Yongsan wasn't necessary. It's all good though, the VA knows now, and that's a good thing.

Yes, he was a bad doctor, but not every doctor in the Army is bad. I've been seen by some good ones too. I generally trust the medics more, though. They actually know what Soldiers do and go through.

 

[ColdWarVeteran]

I took a close friend of mine (a Vietnam War combat veteran) to the VA hospital in Houston several weeks ago. I was shocked not so much at the long lines, lack of facilities and the general confusion, but by the overbearing and rude medical staff. The doctors, nurses and general hospital staff seemed to share one facial expression: Nurse Ratchet.

Everywhere I walked I was in awe of the men I saw in the hallways. Blinded, crippled, some with no arms, no legs, some with half their face gone. I came upon one WWII Naval veteran with no arms and one leg and half his face removed. He smiled at me, I smiled back, and introduced myself.

This old codger served on the USS MORRISON, which was hit by a kamikaze while the ship was on picket duty off Okinawa. He was hit by shrapnel from the exploding magazine and thrown overboard (nearly 150 of his crewmen, below decks at the time, went down with the ship). As this gentleman continued telling me his story, I couldn't stop my own tears as he was proud of his service, even though he was crippled (at least in my eyes). His face was horribly disfigured. He then grabbed my arm and said, "I move from room to room making sure no one feels sorry for themselves! We must be thankful that the Father has given us each day to live" He then smiled, poked me in the stomach, laughed and motored on down the hallway in his wheelchair.

 

[Ringel05]

And we don't have to believe him if we don't want to. His response raises...... how shall I say it nicely........ red flags.

No you don't. Although why you think I would lie about it and the "red flag" remarks are beyond me.
.

Because we've had our share of "posers" in the past, by refusing to answer reasonable questions it raises serious doubts as to the validity of your having served claim. This being the anonymous internet we figured that should be obvious.