Veterans Voice Concerns to Roseburg VA
NORTH BEND The Roseburg Veterans Affairs Healthcare System does not have many friends among the people it serves.
The hospital held a town hall meeting Wednesday afternoon at the North Bend Public Library to hear from veterans, families of veterans and stakeholders about their concerns with the VA.
Interim director Doug Paxton, along with Chief of Staff Dr. James Mason, Dr. Jim Johansen and Dr. Seigrid Nixon, represented the hospital at the meeting.
Paxton said at the start of the meeting that he is a proud veteran, and he wants to do whatever he can to help his fellow veterans.
“I spent six years in the Army Infantry and Bravo, Hooah,” Paxton said. “I love my job at the VA, I can tell you that. That’s why I come to work every day to take care of my brothers and sisters to make sure you get excellent health care. Not good health care. Excellent health care.”
The hospital has been surrounded with controversy as of late.
Recently, the Douglas County Veterans Forum, a nonprofit organization that represents veterans in the county, issued a letter to hospital management stating that it had no confidence in how the hospital has been run.
The letter also entailed accusations of possible corruption in attempts to hide veteran appointment times, lack of acknowledgement of problems regarding the health care of veterans and retaliation against whistleblowers who point out problems with the VA system.
Paxton took over as interim director for the hospital in October after Carol Bogedain stepped down, and he has promised change, more transparency and plans to have town hall meetings once a month.
About 40 veterans and family members of vets filled the room, and for about three hours, they expressed their discontent with the hospital.
The meeting quickly became heated and tensions boiled over with some in the audience shouting out their concerns and arguing with each other, but those leading the meeting were able to ease the tension.
Dan Hubble, a veteran, said he has horrible experiences with the VA hospital in Roseburg.
“Roseburg has the worst, the worst doctors I’ve ever seen,” Hubble said.
Hubble said he had been treated “like the scum of the earth,” and he had experiences with doctors misdiagnosing him.
One of the common themes throughout the night was lack of communication patients were getting with the hospital, and attitudes toward patients was a concern, too.
Cindy Lesner, a veteran and former VA employee, said she has been on both sides, and some of the issues are patients misunderstanding the process, but there are major concerns with the hospital’s treatment of and communication with patients.
Lesner said she has a veteran friend who broke her leg, and after taking her to the hospital in Roseburg to be admitted, her friend was turned away from the hospital.
“They said, ‘We don’t have an orthopedic,'” Lesner said. “I asked if she could stay the night here (Roseburg) and take her to work tomorrow, and she said, ‘Oh no, we can’t do that here.'”
Lesner said she was told her friend had to go back home and wait for a call.
“I asked how she is supposed to get around,” Lesner said. “She lives in a house with stairs, and they said, ‘Well, she can sit on her butt and crawl up the stairs.'”
There were positive moments throughout the night, and many commended Nixon, who is a staff physician at the North Bend VA Clinic, for her outstanding work with patients.
“If we could find 10 more like her (Nixon), it’d be a good system,” Hubble said.
Paxton and hospital staff even took down veterans’ names and numbers, and directed some to staff from the North Bend clinic to get help with their concerns.
For Paxton, the meeting was a positive one, he said.
“We’re going to take all your great ideas back, and improve things,” Paxton said.
Tags: Veterans News
