VA spent $20M on art as ailing veterans languished, report finds

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

Why am I not surprised. Remember, though, the federal government needs to take over everyone's health care because they'll do such a better job at it than the private sector. It will make everything better.

The Veterans Affairs administration spent $20 million on expensive artwork and sculptures amidst the healthcare scandal, where thousands of veterans died waiting to see doctors.

The taxpayer watchdog group Open the Books teamed up with COX Media Washington, D.C., for an oversight report on spending at the VA, finding numerous frivolous expenditures on artwork, including six-figure dollar sculptures at facilities for the blind.

VA spent $20M on art as ailing veterans languished, report finds | Fox News

 

[Iceweasel]

Sickening. I worked at a VA hospital while going through college. It's government all the way. The primary objective is to have a nice good paying job with excellent bennies. I won't go into some of the shit I saw, horrible!

 

[saveliberty]

“In an ironic vignette, at a healthcare facility dedicated to serving blind veterans—the new Palo Alto Polytrauma and Blind Rehabilitation Center—the agency wasted $670,000 on two sculptures no blind veteran can even see,” Andrzejewski said. “The ‘Helmick Sculpture’ cost $385,000 (2014) and a parking garage exterior wall façade by King Ray Studio for the ‘design, fabrication, and installation of the public artwork’ cost $285,000 (2014).”

VA spent $20M on art as ailing veterans languished, report finds | Fox News

I think I can safely say I would not have approved this one.

 

[waltky]

Mebbe dey should spend the money on mental illness, drug abuse treatment...

Drug Abuse, Mental Illness Rise Among Veterans: VA Report
Aug 04, 2016 | The number of Department of Veterans Affairs patients with diagnosed mental health or substance abuse issues increased between 2001 and 2014, according to a report on veteran suicide newly released by the VA.

Between 2001 and 2014, the rate of mental health disorders and substance abuse disorders climbed from 27 percent to 40 percent, the Aug. 3 report states. Data on mental health and substance abuse were examined as part of the study, officials wrote, because those diseases are connected with a higher risk of suicide. But the study also found that the suicide rate among VA patients with those disorders decreased from 77.6 per 100,000 to 57 between 2001 and 2014 despite that correlation.

The report, the most comprehensive study yet on veteran suicide, is based on a review of Defense Department records, records from each state and data from the Centers for Disease Control, VA officials said. Highlights from the report were released in early July. "The effort advances VA's knowledge from the previous report in 2012, which was primarily limited to information on Veterans who used [Veterans Health Administration] health services or from mortality records obtained directly from 20 states and approximately 3 million records," VA officials said in a release. Among early released findings was the conclusion that an average of 20 veterans take their lives each day, and that 65 percent of all veterans who committed suicide in 2014 were over age 50.

Veterans, the report says, accounted for 18 percent of all suicide deaths among U.S. adults, down from 22 percent in 2010. The risk of suicide is 21 percent greater for veterans than for the U.S. civilian population, it says. Among a laundry list of actions the VA says it is taking to address the veteran suicide issue are expanding the Veterans Crisis Line, "predictive modeling" to determine which veterans are most at risk for suicide and "ensuring same-day access for Veterans with urgent mental health needs at over 1,000 points of care by the end of calendar year 2016," it said in a release.

Drug Abuse, Mental Illness Rise Among Veterans: VA Report | Military.com

 

[Neotrotsky]

Why am I not surprised. Remember, though, the federal government needs to take over everyone's health care because they'll do such a better job at it than the private sector. It will make everything better.

The Veterans Affairs administration spent $20 million on expensive artwork and sculptures amidst the healthcare scandal, where thousands of veterans died waiting to see doctors.

The taxpayer watchdog group Open the Books teamed up with COX Media Washington, D.C., for an oversight report on spending at the VA, finding numerous frivolous expenditures on artwork, including six-figure dollar sculptures at facilities for the blind.

VA spent $20M on art as ailing veterans languished, report finds | Fox News

if it was possible, it would be nice to see the political connections
"...$115,600 for “art consultants” for the Palo Alto facility."

who were these “art consultants”

 

[Neotrotsky]

VA spent $20M on art as ailing veterans languished, report finds

since veterans have died and in the words of Queen Hillary
"What difference at this point does it make?"