There are needs that the Veterans have that we may not be able to meet. Let me give you some examples:
Veteran A needs a cardiac bypass. The VA hospital closest to him does not have the capability to do heart surgery. Before Choice, he may have had to travel for hours to a VA hospital that did have that capability (the VA would not pay for outside care if it can be done inside the VA) and the Veterans did not like that. They wanted the Choice to be seen in a timely manner without having to travel long distances, and for that care to be paid for by the VA.
Veteran B is in a wheelchair and lives 50 miles from the nearest VA hospital. He does not have a car or reliable transportation. He needs care closer to his home.
Veteran C needs Chiropractic care and the nearest VA does not offer this (although this is changing, we just hired our first Chiropractor!). He is able to go to the chiropractor via Choice.
The answer? Give more funding to the VA so we can build more hospitals and hire more providers and specialists. Until that happens, we still have to give the Veterans care - so, Choice. Most of the complaints I hear from the Veterans are about the third party contractor who actually handles the coordination of the outside appointment. They are overwhelmed and the Veterans sometimes have to wait longer for Choice than if they had stayed within the VA system.
I look forward to the day when the VA offers the Veterans so much that they do not need Choice.
Annette
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