Veterans
With the current war on terror and our military being asked to
defend our nation in times of need, they are promised the basic
benefit of healthcare for putting their nation ahead of their
own lives. I can personally relate to the difficulty faced
after our service men and women have made the sacrifice of
putting our nation first. Especially in regard to
healthcare. I am appalled by the poor treatment of our
veterans in non-veteran funded facilities.
I've spent many hours trying to help my brother, who is a
Vietnam veteran, find and receive the much needed physical
therapy that were provided and funded by the Veterans
Association. My brother was treated by St. Francis
Hospital out-patient physical therapy for several weeks.
During this time, my brother continued to improve and benefit
from this physical therapy. But when more therapy was
approved and ordered, St. Francis did not provide the additional
care for 5 weeks. After calling, I was told they needed a
fee-based letter before they would start the additional therapy.
What astounded me was when I questioned the representative from
the hospital why the VA was not called to request the letter,
she stated that she didn't handle requests and didn't know why a
letter was not requested. After many calls, I received the
fee-based letter from the VA and took it to the physical therapy
office but my brother was denied help due to the wording from
the doctor which had ordered regular physical therapy but St.
Francis Hospital would only offer aquatic therapy which the
doctor did not think would benefit my brother as would the
regular therapy. Another example of managed care rather
that care for the patient.
I spoke with several therapists about this situation with my
brother and reminded these therapists that just like my brother
who fought in Vietnam, we have a war going on and more of our
injured men and women are going to need medical treatment that
may not be at one of the Veterans Association facility.
Our men and women in uniform deserve the best we can offer for
their sacrifice for the nation. When I get to Washing, I
will propose and fight for a VA facility to be built in the
Upstate to support all the needs of our veterans in our area
including physical therapy. Who more than our men and
women in uniform deserve our care and concern
