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DID LACK OF "URGENT CARE" AT SPOKANE VA COST A
VETERAN
HIS LIFE? -- Spokane "Urgent Care" closed at
4:30. At 4:35,
veteran was denied care as VA employee called
911 to get
an ambulance. The veteran died at another
hospital.
This is something I hoped I'd never have
to write about.
But, it was bound to happen.
With Congress consistently shortchanging
the VA budget, services have been cutback in many facilities.
In Spokane, Washington, Urgent Care care
was cut from 24 hours earlier this year. Story here...
http://www.vawatchdog.org/old%20newsflashes%20JUL%2006/newsflash07-28-2006-10.htm
This story is worth reading because Washington Senator Maria Cantwell
demanded answers about this move. To my knowledge, she never got
the answers.
Now, Urgent Care is only open from 8am to
4:30pm.
4:35 is too late!
This should be a wakeup call to our
politicians. It's time to fully fund the VA.
Story here...
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420AP_WA_Veteran_Dies.html
Story below:
---------------
Ailing war vet dies after VA hospital calls 911
for help
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SPOKANE, Wash. -- A Spokane veteran of three wars died after collapsing
in the parking lot of a veterans hospital where staffers called 911
instead of helping the man.
Clinton L. Fuller had a friend take him to Veterans Affairs Medical
Center for treatment of asthma and emphysema when he collapsed
mid-afternoon Sept. 30.
"This man who fought three wars was dying in front of the VA Hospital,
and no one inside would help," said the Rev. Eugene Singleton, who drove
Fuller. "I thought a professional person, no matter who you are, who has
taken an oath to save lives, would help."
Medically, the patient was handled appropriately, said Joe Manley,
director of the VA center, which had stopped offering nighttime care and
was now closing at 4:30 p.m.
"The patient arrived at our facility in respiratory distress," he said.
"The most skilled people we had went out to the patient, but you have to
have the professional equipment to do the work."
The procedure Fuller needed would have required a tube being put down
his throat to help him breathe, Manley explained.
The timing, he said, had nothing to do with Fuller not being helped by
VA staff.
"Calling the fire department was quicker than getting equipment and
bringing it back out or finding someone who could offer the medical
assistance," he said.
Singleton often drove Fuller, 83, to the VA hospital, where he was a
regular patient.
On Sept. 30, Fuller's wife, Marilyn, called Singleton to again make the
trip.
"After I got there, it took him a while to get out of the house. He
brought a little bag with his Bible and such. He wanted to go to the
hospital to be treated for his asthma and emphysema," said Singleton, a
reverend at St. Matthew Institutional Baptist Church.
Nearing the hospital around 4:35 p.m., Singleton said his friend slumped
over onto his shoulder, and he couldn't wake him.
Singleton ran into the urgent care center and yelled for help before
returning with a wheelchair for Fuller.
A security guard came outside and said the center closed at 4:30 p.m.
but 911 had been called.
Paramedics arrived within minutes and took Fuller to Deaconess Medical
Center, where he died an hour and 10 minutes after collapsing.
Despite serving in World War II, Korea and Vietnam, Fuller was
disrespected by VA hospital workers, said Singleton, who as a veteran
himself said he'd never seek care at the hospital.
"I don't want to be treated like that," he said. "I get emotional every
time I think about it."
The VA hospital, which underwent a $3.2 million expansion in 2005,
eliminated the center's nighttime hours in July. Hospital officials said
very few patients visited after 4:30 p.m.
---------------
Larry Scott
