[Vision2020] 'Yawning Gap' Claimed in Care for Wounded Troops

[Tom Hansen]

>From the October 9, 2006 edition of the Army Times -

As hundreds of billions of dollars are spent on an unjustifiable war,
thousands of permanently wounded troops are simply swept under the rug and
forgotten.

"Veterans with PTSD are three times more likely to commit suicide than their
cohorts in the general population," Filner said, adding that the Defense
Department "is doing next to nothing to help get at-risk veterans to VA
care."

------------------------------------------------------------

'Yawning gap' claimed in care for wounded troops

By Rick Maze
Army Times Staff writer

Dramatic upgrades are needed, veterans groups and lawmakers said, if the
government is to establish a truly "seamless" transition between military
and veterans' health care for those injured in combat.

Rep. Steve Buyer, R-Ind., the House Veterans' Affairs Committee chairman,
raised the issue at a Sept. 20 hearing focusing on a legislative agenda for
next year when he talked about a recent visit to Iraq. 

He largely blamed the Defense Department for problems that have hampered
efforts to build a seamless system.

Buyer said there is still a "yawning gap" between the Pentagon and
Department of Veterans Affairs on this issue.

"Wounded GIs arriving at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center [in Germany]
minutes after we arrived had paper medical records in files on their
chests," he said. "Largely because of the Pentagon's foot-dragging, VA and
DoD still do not have a truly interoperable system of electronic medical
records," Buyer said.

But representatives from major veterans' groups said the problem is more
than just electronic records. Thomas Zampieri, government relations director
for the Blinded Veterans Association, cited two recent examples of what he
called a "complete disconnect" between the military and VA health care
systems. 

One example involves a 22-year-old Navy Reserve corpsman held for four
months in a medical holding company at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

"The corpsman had been hit by a mortar attack in Iraq several months before,
leaving him totally blind in his left eye and with vision of 20/200 in his
right eye," Zampieri said.

The injury should have resulted in an immediate consultation with the VA for
admission into a rehabilitation center, he said.

But "no one contacted VA," Zampieri said. "This brave American instead was
outprocessed on Sept. 8" with instructions to call the VA for an eye clinic
appointment when he got back to Ohio.

The second example involved an Army sergeant first class who was blinded
after being shot in the head in Iraq.

"He is still on active duty, with no consultation with [the Veterans Health
Administration] for the past four months," Zampieri said.

Some 2,200 service members are in military medical holding companies, he
said, and there are likely more blinded veterans who need help.

"These cases should begin to demonstrate our complete lack of confidence in
this system," he said. "These service members deserve better than this."

Zampieri did not provide names or other identifying information.

Gary Kurpius, national commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, said that
after all the talk over the years about seamless transition, "I am not sure
that we can even point to signs of progress."

Defense Department and VA computer systems that are supposed to share
information are a big, but hardly the only, part of the problem, he said.
For example, employment programs need to focus on the future, he said. 

Disabled veterans need education "to overcome and lessen the effects of
disability so that there will be employment . beyond the entry level,"
Kurpius said. 

Rep. Bob Filner of California, acting ranking Democrat on the veterans'
committee, said he expects more cooperation between the military and VA on
helping veterans and their families adjust to and cope with disabilities,
especially post-traumatic stress disorder.

"Veterans with PTSD are three times more likely to commit suicide than their
cohorts in the general population," Filner said, adding that the Defense
Department "is doing next to nothing to help get at-risk veterans to VA
care."

"This must change," he said.

------------------------------------------------------------

Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Vandalville, Idaho

"Patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion but the tranquil
and steady dedication of a lifetime." 

--Adlai E. Stevenson, Jr.