After the scandal over long patient wait times and a cover-up of the problem, VA hospitals around the country are holding what they call “Town Hall” meetings with veterans to gather feedback about service.
One was held recently in Cleveland. Joanna Richards of member station WCPN in Cleveland reports.
Cleveland’s medical center was never identified as seriously problematic, and the Town Hall reflected that. Only 100 or so turned up for the meeting, many hospital and political officials, and veteran volunteers.
Though a few patients leveled serious charges, most were specific to individual situations. But one issue came up repeatedly, even among those who praised the VA’s care: scheduling headaches.
Fuehrer (0:03): The scheduling package that we use right now is very complicated.
That’s Susan Fuehrer, the center’s director. She says some basic tasks are impossible with the current software – like looking at a full list of a patient’s upcoming appointments. Fuehrer says Cleveland , one of the VA’s biggest medical centers, will be one of the test sites for a new system.
Fuehrer (0:11): One big package, where everything is easily available and ‘see-able,’ for lack of a better word, to both clerks that are scheduling, as well as the physicians and nurses that are caring for the patient.
Fuehrer says that’s a few years off. Change, like pretty much everything at the VA, is also complex.
