Miami Veterans Health System officials told a crowd of military veterans Thursday at the Harvey Government Center in Key West they are working to improve customer service amid mounting concerns over wait times among other issues.
Lance Davis, the associate director of the Miami V.A. Healthcare System, gave an hour-long presentation before taking questions — and more often complaints — from the crowd.
The consensus among most was that the Key West outpatient clinic run by the Veterans Health Administration has a professional staff, but there is a need for more doctors and better communication between the Key West and Miami clinics.
The service is sometimes poor. Many of those present complained of waiting hours for care in Miami after making the 150-mile trek to the mainland.
Pete Thomas, commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post on North Roosevelt Boulevard, summed up the mood by saying, “The care here has been good, and I know you all (officials) will remember to bring your flak jackets next time, but the Miami office needs work.”
Most complained of a lack of return phone calls; long wait times; and the lack of hotel beds for those needing to stay overnight. One veteran said he had an eye exam on Nov. 4 and still hasn’t received his glasses.
Most medical treatments must be done in Miami as the Key West clinic is not outfitted or staffed for surgeries or other similar serious care.
Davis told the crowd they’re working on improving appointment access at the Miami, Key West and Key Largo clinics, telephone access to caregivers, as well as customer service and transportation needs.
Many in the crowd were worried that the Key West clinic — located on South Roosevelt Boulevard near the triangle — has only one medical doctor.
By spring a joint project funded by both the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs will expand the physical medicine and rehab services at the Key West clinic, officials said.
A pharmacists and pain specialist will be brought here in an effort to lessen the workload on the staff already there, said Miami V.A. Healthcare System spokesman Shane Suzuki.
“What we’ve noticed in the last two years is that a lot of the needs of those transient folks who come down for the winter, a lot of their needs can be taken care of by a pharmacist or pain specialist, which should take the workload off other staff there,” Suzuki said.
A rehabilitation gym is scheduled to open in March, he added.
The joint funding of the project means both veterans and local Navy staff will have access to the services, Davis and Suzuki said.
One Afghanistan veteran complained that customer service drops during the winter when snowbirds increase in numbers, which the new project may help to alleviate, officials said.
“I think it went pretty well, and I liked that they brought people to take veterans’ information who had complaints,” said George Brentnall, director of the Monroe County Veterans Affairs Department. “I think that’s a start. The group got some answers they wanted and some they didn’t, but when you’re trying to fix something you’ve got to start somewhere.”
Brentnall approached the Miami V.A. office with mounting concerns among veterans in the Keys and U.S. Rep. Joe Garcia facilitated a meeting with Miami officials, which led to the townhall meeting in Key West.
The townhall forums will rotate between Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties. The next meeting in the Keys may occur in Marathon in about six to nine months, Brentnall said. Marathon is 40 miles from any V.A. clinic, which qualifies veterans there to be treated at a non-V.A. facility.
Such veterans may qualify for “choice cards” as part of the Veterans’ Access to Care through Choice, Accountability, and Transparency Act.
Veterans who have been told by their local V.A. clinic that they will need to wait more than 30 days for treatment may also be eligible for the choice cards.
The 2014 law was enacted after national media reports that the Veterans Health Administration was lying about the wait times veterans experienced in an effort to paint itself in more positive public light.
In Phoenix, it was reported that at least 40 veterans died while waiting for care, leading to a FBI investigation into the V.A. nationwide.
For information about the card program, call 305-575-3399. Veterans can also verify their eligibility by calling the national number at 866-606-8198.
