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SECOND VETERAN DIES AFTER BEING DENIED CARE AT

SPOKANE VA -- Spokane VA staff members comment to

VA Watchdog: "We need to acknowledge our mistakes,

find out why they occurred and work to see

they don't happen [again]."

 

 

The "turn them away" problems continue at the Spokane, Washington VA.

Background story on the first veteran's death here... http://www.vawatchdog.org/
old%20newsflashes%20OCT%2006/newsflash10-08-2006-4.htm

I have received a number of comments from people on staff at the Spokane VA.

They are appalled at this situation.

From one staffer: "We need to acknowledge our mistakes, find out why they occurred and work to see they don't happen [again]."  "What specific training have the 'receptionists' received in recognizing the symptoms of medical distress?  Is triage actually withheld until the 'receptionist' completes his/her administrative actions?"

From another staffer:  "What is concerning to me...is the fact that the Director keeps telling the public that the Spokane VA has not had emergency services in years, decades in fact.  The VA just spent over $3 million to build a new ER.  It opened a year ago.  It has six monitored beds and up to date equipment."

It seems the Spokane VA Director and his staff don't agree on the facts of this case.

And, in a TV interview about two weeks ago, I stated that the Spokane problems were budget-driven.  In that same TV story, the Director denied that charge.

However, if Spokane had an adequate budget, the Urgent Care unit would be open 24/7, wouldn't it?

This story appeared in the Spokane Spokesman-Review.  A link is not available as the web site is locked unless you subscribe to the newspaper.

Story below:

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The Spokesman-Review, Saturday, November 18, 2006 Metro Edition
Spokane, Washington

PAINFUL MEMORIES

More families say VA center refused to help in emergencies

by Jonel Aleccia
Staff writer

Nearly two months after an 83-year-old veteran collapsed in the parking lot
outside Spokane's Veterans Administration Medical Center - and later died -
more former soldiers and their families are contending the agency denied them
appropriate emergency care.

At least three local residents said VA urgent care workers didn't help during
medical emergencies, including a woman who claimed her 70-year-old husband
died at Holy Family Hospital hours after a receptionist rudely turned him away.

"If they would have saw him, they would have saw the severity of his illness,"
said Trina Braze, 49, the widow of Korean War veteran Kenneth Baze, who
suffered an aortic aneurism.

"And then he wouldn't have died in front of my children."

But Joe Manley, director of the hospital that serves 22,000 veterans, disputes
the accusations by Baze and others. He said the VA provided the best care
available to them - and to Clinton L. "Foxx" Fuller, who was treated by
emergency crews summoned by VA staff members who called 911 on Sept. 30.
Fuller, a three-war veteran, died at Deaconess Medical Center.

The trouble, Manley said, is that some veterans don't realize that the VA is
not an emergency room or a trauma unit - even though they should.

"We make every effort to get that information out," Manley said this week.
"Medicine is not an area where there's always an informed consumer ... We
write them letters, we give them brochures, but we can't make them read it."

Washington state lawmakers, however, contend that Manley and other VA
officials must do more to resolve confusion over the VA's capabilities,
particularly after the hospital closed its 24-hour service in June. Fuller
arrived at the urgent care center about five minutes after the clinic's 4:30
p.m. closing time.

Sen. Patty Murray and Rep. Cathy McMorris - who was criticized during the
recent election campaign for Fuller's treatment - said current information
efforts are not enough.

"I am quite concerned that the VA has done a very poor job of communicating
with local veterans," McMoris said. "If the VA has made the decision not to
have a facility open 24 hours a day, they need to recognize there will be
costs."

Murray said that it's Manley's responsibility to reach out to veterans.

"Communication and the right kind of communication is key," she said. "You
can't just send one letter and expect them to know."

Compassionate response to medical emergencies is the larger issue, according
to Trina Baze, who said her husband was refused care two months before VA
officials closed the 24-hour service.

The Korean War veteran and Spokane security guard had very low blood pressure and was in severe pain on April 24. Accompanied by their two teenage daughters, Baze and his wife went to the VA urgent care center for help, she said.

"The woman receptionist was very rude," said Trina Baze. "She said, 'We're
too busy to see you right now.' I said, 'His blood pressure is 70/40! What do
we do?' and she said, 'You can come back tomorrow.'"

The family returned to their home at Elk, hoping that Kenneth Baze's condition
would improve. Instead, he collapsed in front of the girls - Taylor, 15, and
Tracy, 17 - two hours later. Paramedics transported him to Holy Family, where
he died from complications of an undetected aortic aneurism, his wife said.

"You're led to believe that's OK, you can come here, we'll take care of you,"
she said. "I can't believe that woman could look at those two girls and that
sick man and say, 'Go away.'"

After her husband's death, Baze received a bill for $8,500 for her husband's
care. VA officials said the agency is not responsible for the cost.

"They said it wasn't covered because he didn't have a referral," Trina Baze
said. "I think they gave him a referral when they wouldn't treat him."

Baze's concerns were echoed by Leonard Kissner, 72, a Korean War veteran
from Spokane who said he suffered a seizure and fell unconscious in the VA
parking lot in August, after a doctor told him he could be housed in the
hospital nursing home but not admitted to the hospital.

"I needed immediate medical treatment, and they had no one to take care of
me," Kissner said.

And they're supported by Lewis Pancoast, 81, a World War I veteran who was
vomiting and in severe pain when he showed up at closing time Sept. 1 at the
VA's urgent care site.

"The receptionist there put up her hand and said, 'No, you can't come in. You
can't get in here. You've got to go somewhere else,'" recalled Pancoast's
friend, Marlene Martino, 72, of Spokane.

"It's not fair, you know? 'These fellows deserve the help," she said.

Although Manley said he regrets any pain or loss suffered by veterans and
their families, he disputes details of each case.

The clerk who spoke with Trina and Kenneth Baze said that the couple did not
make it clear that he was suffering a medical emergency, Manley said. They
simply asked how long he'd have to wait.

"My understanding was that the patient didn't want to wait and that they
underestimated the seriousness of the condition," Manley said, a conclusion
that Trina Baze hotly denied.

"We came to them to find out how serious it was," she said. "What is the
standard of care they promised these men when they went to war?"

In Kissner's case, the veteran signed a form indicating that he refused
medical care. The staff doctor wanted to admit him to the nursing home unit
of the hospital, but Kissner wouldn't agree. When he left, he collapsed in
the parking lot.

"I would encourage you in the future not to turn down care," Manley said to
Kissner, who visited the director.

In Pancoast's case, the veteran was referred to Holy Family Hospital for
appropriate treatment of a hernia, Manley said. The VA is covering the cost
of his care.

In each of these cases, the veterans made the mistake of going to the VA
hospital instead of seeking care at a fully equipped, fully staffed emergency room.

"I hope you know that if you have a heart attack tomorrow, don't come here,"
Manley told Kissner.

The VA hasn't offered true emergency care for years, Manley said. Even when
the urgent care center is open, paitents with life-threatening injuries or
illnesses are sent by emergency ambulance to better-equipped hospitals.

The VA isn't alone in summoning mobile medical crews to parking lot
emergencies. Representatives for hospitals as varied as Sacred Heart Medical
Center and the Shriner's Hospital for Children in Spokane said protocol
requires calling 911 to help critically ill or injured people quickly.

Some veterans also are confused about what kind of medical care is covered
by the government. Typically, only veterans who've retired from 20 years of
active duty are entitled to unlimited care at any hospital, medical center
or clinic, Manley said. Other veterans receive care for medical problems that
occurred during their military duty, so-called "service connected" conditions.

"Some laymen think they're entitled to lifetime care because they've served
in the military," Manley said. "Service in the military doesn't entitle you
to lifetime care."

Someone should make that clear to veterans and their families, said Trina
Baze, whose husband received care at VA hospitals for 25 years.

"It seems like the VA is just facade to me," she said. "They promise these
men good medical care for the rest of their life and then they don't give
it."

Patient satisfaction with the Spokane VA is among the highest in the country
- 93 percent, compared to a national average of 77 percent, according to a
2005 audit released in February by the Department of Veterans Affairs Office
of Inspector General.

However, publicity about Fuller's death and its prominence in the recent
election campaign may have tarnished that image, Manley acknowledged.

The director, who will retire in January, said the agency will have to
consider new methods to ensure that veterans know where to go when they need emergency medical help.

"What could you do to tell people you're great? Your best advertising is
word of mouth," he said. "I think we'll earn back our patients' confidence
and respect."

Reach reporter JoNel Aleccia at (509) 459-5460 or by e-mail at
jonela@spokesman.com

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Larry Scott