Some veterans say they struggle for care

Some veterans say they struggle for care

from VA clinic’s contractors
http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20081122/ARTICLES/811222976/1004?Title=Some_veterans_say_they_struggle_for_care_from_VA_clinic_s_contractors





Staff Photo | PAUL STEPHEN
Rocky Point couple Paul and Ann Bennett have struggled with the local VA clinic trying to keep up with his medications. Bennett, who served in the Coast Guard from 1965-69, suffered a stroke in 2007.
The private company that has been running the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ outpatient clinic in Wilmington and racking up hundreds of complaints from area veterans will continue to manage the facility until the end of May.
The VA’s contract with Magnum Medical J.V. was set to expire Nov. 28. A VA spokesman said Thursday that the agreement was extended six months as the agency looks for space to lease in the area to open a larger clinic.
“We did this with an understanding that patient satisfaction was our No. 1 concern,” said Dave Raney, communications officer with the VA’s Mid-Atlantic Network that includes North Carolina.
The two companies that make up Magnum Medical – Magnum Opus Technologies and Sterling Medical – are responsible for the clinic’s workers, from physicians to nurses to telephone operators. Sterling Medical has had a role running the clinic since it opened in 2001.
The facility, located at 1606 Physicians Drive, has been the subject of numerous complaints from area veterans, according to records from the VA’s patient advocates in Fayetteville.
Raney said he was aware of the concerns, adding that positive comments also have been made about the clinic’s staff. He said VA and company officials have talked about the service issues.
“We’ve had some discussion now with the Sterling management, and they’re very well aware of our standards, particularly with the time it takes to get prescriptions refilled and the time for appointments,” Raney said.
A Sterling executive did not return a phone message left last week, nor did the current clinic manager or medical director.
Patient problems with the clinic became public in July when Lisa Lynch, a laboratory technician there, told local media outlets about seeing veterans irate about their treatment.
The day she spoke out, police had been called to the facility after a patient had reportedly threatened a nurse with a gun because he did not get his medication. Authorities did not find a gun, and the man was not arrested.
While an extreme example, the incident in July was not the only case of veteran frustration.
Between September 2006 and July 23, when police showed up at the facility, 260 complaints were reported about the Wilmington community-based outpatient clinic.
Most of the patients’ complaints began pouring in this year, peaking to more than 40 a day in May and June, according to records provided to the Star-News.
Rocky Point resident Ann Bennett was responsible for some of those.
Waiting and waiting
Bennett can be a pit bull when it comes to her husband, Paul, who suffered a stroke a year and a half ago.
“I’m not ugly or mean, but when it comes to my husband’s health I’m going to stand up for him,” Ann said. “I know how to stand up for myself to get what we need.”
For more than a year and as recently as last week, that has meant going around and around with the clinic on things like getting prescriptions approved and finding out test results for her 60-year-old husband who served in the Coast Guard.
Ann said she had to appeal for assistance from VA officials in Fayetteville and even her congressman.
“Finally, I called (U.S. Rep.) Mike McIntyre’s office, and the next day it was Federal Express-ed to him,” Ann said about diabetic liquid food her husband had been waiting on. “It’s just a sad thing that all of the veterans that served our country have to go through such things as this to get health care if they have no other choice like my husband.”
She said when prescription orders lagged, Paul would become lethargic if he was without blood sugar regulators or feel debilitating pain if his Oxycodone pills ran out.
Of the comments VA representatives collected, nearly 41 percent, or 108 calls, came from patients upset over delays getting their medications.
One patient, who had a stent placement, called six days after bringing in three prescriptions to the clinic to be processed.
“He is upset because no orders have been entered for these medicines and he is nearly out now,” a summary of his complaint stated.
According to the notes, the patient representative checked with the clinic manager, who had put in two notes during the days before for the doctor to approve the prescription orders, but there had been no response.
The inability to get prescription orders signed off so the VA pharmacy in Fayetteville could send medicines to patients was a reoccurring issue for veterans who complained.
Some reported that the problem of waiting for their pain medicines occurred every month as hard copies of prescriptions took too long to be mailed to the pharmacy.
By May, one patient representative noted that the problem was being reported frequently about the Wilmington clinic.
Other common complaints were patients being unable to get through to the clinic’s phone line to speak with someone, being placed on hold for lengthy periods and not having messages returned. Some veterans demanded transfers to the Fayetteville center as their primary care clinic.
Mixed bag
Not all patient experiences were as negative.
Four records were for compliments called in about the clinic’s staff for being helpful and one for “really going above & beyond her duties.”
Jonnie Clark, a 74-year-old Army veteran who lives in Southport, said he has been going to the clinic for five or six years without problems and without delays on his prescriptions.
“I’ve been there about 20 times, and I’ve never gotten anything but the best service, best treatment,” he said, adding that he appreciated what the VA has done for him. “I certainly had no gripes about them at all.”
Not all patients were as pleased as Clark, however.
Among the more serious complaints was one allegation of medical negligence in which a patient in May was told by his new health provider that he had stage-three chronic kidney disease and that his lab results in the past had indicated the problem, but he was never told.
Another patient reported he had lab tests done in late December of last year and was not told he was positive for Hepatitis B until coming in more than a month later for more lab work.
Chris Knopf, a 38-year-old Marine Corps veteran who served in the first Gulf War, found himself dropped inexplicably from the clinic six months ago.
“I don’t know what happened. They dropped me as a patient,” said the Wilmington resident, who receives treatment for a back injury, cholesterol levels and anxiety disorder.
Knopf said he was told he would have to go to Fayetteville for appointments, which he found out would take another year.
So he began calling around for someone to intervene and finally got back into the Wilmington clinic.
But he said he was concerned some veterans might be too sick or elderly to wade through the bureaucracy.
“If you’re 78 years old and you’re hard of hearing and you don’t have the time and energy, you can’t fight them,” Knopf said.
Clinic’s future
Neither Magnum Medical J.V. nor Sterling Medical run any of the other clinics in the VA’s Mid-Atlantic Health Care Network, which covers all of North Carolina, most of Virginia and parts of West Virginia and South Carolina.
Raney said only two other clinics in the region, both in Virginia, are run by contracted companies. He would not comment on how Wilmington’s complaint log compares with other VA clinics in the region.
The current clinic serves about 5,000 veterans in the area. Raney said that once the new 10,000-square-foot location is picked, it will be able to provide primary care and general mental health services to about 6,800 veterans.
The VA’s long-term plans include turning Wilmington into a hub for outpatient care by 2011 in a site with at least 80,000 square feet of space.
He said once the expanded clinic opens in Wilmington, which officials hope will be next year, it will include six physicians and 12 nurses – a larger staff than the current clinic.
Raney said all of the staff members will be VA employees. He added that if any of the clinic’s current workers are interested in being VA employees and are qualified, they will be considered for the new positions.

Some veterans say they struggle for care

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