This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, March 16, 2011 - I couldn't agree more with the headline to Rep. Todd Akin's March 14 piece "Veterans Deserve Better Care." However, I strongly disagree with his recommended solutions.
His suggestion to "take that money and find a better way to deliver health care to our veterans," can mean only one of two options. Close the center - an option that would inconvenience thousands of veterans and burden other facilities in the region - or stop delivering specialized health care to veterans and instead issue "vouchers" for veterans to use outside the VA system.
It is the federal government that sends our veterans to war, and it is the federal government that should provide a health-care system that meets their specific needs. The Department of Veterans Affairs is certainly not perfect, as the well-publicized problems at the John Cochran VA Medical Center point out, but as noted author Phillip Longman of the New America Foundation states, VA "is the best care anywhere."
The recent incident in which a routine inspection at the St. Louis VAMC revealed spots on surgical instrument trays and a water stain on at least one surgical instrument was completely unacceptable. But it should be pointed out that the problem was identified and reported by a VA employee and the VA acted swiftly by cancelling surgeries and examining its procedures to ensure that this problem does not re-occur. It's also worth emphasizing that no patient was infected as a result of this mistake.
The oversight and safeguards in place at VA are second-to-none. My organization, The American Legion, has formed the System Worth Saving Task Force that conducts frequent visits to all VA sites to ensure that veterans are receiving care worthy of their service to this nation. We provide a report of these visits to Congress, the White House and our membership so they can know the strengths and weaknesses of each facility.
The St. Louis VAMC has shown a strong willingness to be held accountable and correct problems. Tiger Teams have been formed to make cultural changes at the facility targeting continuous quality improvement, employee relations and patient satisfaction.
Problems occur at nearly all medical facilities outside the VA Health Care System. You are just less likely to hear about them.
Jimmie L. Foster is national commander of The American Legion.