VA hospitals fund solar panels while veterans wait for doctors

Bows.

Not sure how hard you were biting your tongue as you crafted your reply, but you earned a large measure of respect just now.

My perspective on this subject is derived from more than three (four depending on your perspective) decades of first-hand observation. I first became involved in healthcare back in the '70s. I completed my internship as a microbiologist at the UNC Memorial Hospital, but joined the Army as a method of paying off my tuition debt. Fell in love with the job the Army gave me and stayed for a career. Retired in '98 as a zero-percent (read that as non) disabled vet, took a break, and have since drifted back to my first love. I've been directly involved in military healthcare administration since '04, starting at the Womack Army Medical Center at Fort Bragg, and being 'by name' selected for my present assignment in Seoul.

Probably way too forthcoming for a site where anonymity comes first, but there you have it.

I don't really see any difference between a doctor at one facility and a doctor at another. It's not the doctor's fault.

You're right ... but ... there's a subtlety in the profession of healthcare you won't see if you don't work here. The 'good' doctors don't remain associated with military healthcare for the most part. For some, military healthcare is a springboard. For others, it's a means to an end (usually financial). What you have remaining are lazy, barely competent, government qualified (this can't be understated) people ... we'd frankly be better off without. These are the ones who can't find a way to the greener grass on the other side of the fence ... where all the 'good' doctors wind up.

The worst thing 0bama said was, "If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor." This was patently ... a lie. You can't keep a doctor on staff who doesn't want to be a doctor anymore. A doctor can't be a doctor ... when they're not allowed to 'be' a doctor.

It's the administrators. I don't care if the VA is putting solar panels on their roof.

You're right ... but ... would you care to elaborate? This is *not* self-evident for most folks. It's easy to see where the roots of a tree are growing up to a trunk too, but that doesn't make one an arborist. -grin-

What I do care about is their methodology in treating patients.

You're right ... but ... government is blindly tying the doctor's right hand behind their back and tying the administrator's left hand behind their back. This is the socialist way.

The whole reason my dog is in this fight, is because I don't have to use the VA healthcare system. I don't 'want' to use the VA healthcare system. 99% of my healthcare needs are met by the Korean healthcare system (irony is thick if you want to point that out for everyone). I'd rather pay 'cash' for the services I require than exercise either the capitalist or socialist way.

The trick to every game ... is getting your opponent to choose a side. Be a conservative!! Be a progressive!! Be an anarchist!! Oh ... I think not ... First, be a non-conformist. Know freedom. Choose wisely and take personal responsibility for the choices made.

The two don't really have a whole lot in common.

You're right ... but ... physically, I don't have a lot in common with my wife. We're still 'in bed' with each other every night. When we wake up, she has her agenda and I have mine. On those days of divergence one of us used to wind up on the couch for an evening. But ... not many people understand what makes marriage work either.

a reply to: Snarl

By working in the medical profession for as long as you have you've an infinitely greater understanding of the ins and outs of the administrative side than I do.

I can appreciate that.

a reply to: links234

I can appreciate that.

We learn a lot 'from each other' when the discussion takes place on a level playing field. Too bad this thread has gone stale.

I`ll go the V.A. as a last resort and they`ll have to carry me in.