Wanted: New V.A. Secretary

[Super Firebug]

This just absolutely incensed me.

Robert McDonald, Veterans Affairs Secretary, at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast: "When you got to Disney, do they measure the number of hours you wait in line? Or what's important? What's important is, what's your satisfaction with the experience? And what I would like to move to, eventually, is that kind of measure."

Tweet from Paul Ryan, Speaker of the House of Representatives: "This is not make-believe, Mr. Secretary. Veterans have died waiting in those lines."

Really, McDonald? You seriously think that waiting for needed, sometimes life-saving, health care compares to waiting to go on an amusement-park ride?? Do you intend to resurrect dead veterans in order to ask them about their satisfaction with their V.A. "experience", or will their voices not be counted? As a veteran, if my opinion mattered, I'd say that we'd be better off with RONALD McDonald, as V.A. Secretary, than with THIS clown.

Sorry; had to vent. Carry on.

[ukaserex]

Thanks for your service.

[TimtheEnchanter]

I hate to sound like I'm paraphrasing something Donald Trump would say, when I say, "I don't know the guy." But are you sure this isn't seeing too much into his words? He clearly asked if "waiting times" and "customer satisfaction" get measured. The use of theme-park wait times may just be for the purpose of making it easy for everyone to understand. After all, multi-hour waits in Disney World may be the only lines that the 'privileged' have ever been forced to put up with.

[AmberOfDzu]

But are you sure this isn't seeing too much into his words? He clearly asked if "waiting times" and "customer satisfaction" get measured.

What troubles me is that the intent of what he was saying, even stripped of the poorly chosen comparison to Disney, still shows terrible judgment. Those waiting times for service are the biggest part of the problem, and they can't trade eventual satisfaction after patients finally see doctors for terrible waits up-front to make up for them. His words show that he never truly understood that, or if he originally did, has let the VA's management absorb him in its internal narrative.

I also wish to thank all Veterans for their service, and assure you, that I as a voter, along with many others, have our obligation to taking care of you in mind, and will not let politicians of any party or creed forget it.

[Super Firebug]

What troubles me is that the intent of what he was saying, even stripped of the poorly chosen comparison to Disney, still shows terrible judgment. Those waiting times for service are the biggest part of the problem, and they can't trade eventual satisfaction after patients finally see doctors for terrible waits up-front to make up for them. His words show that he never truly understood that, or if he originally did, has let the VA's management absorb him in its internal narrative.

He used to be President, Chairman and CEO of Procter & Gamble, and it seems that he's letting his public-relations experience take over. He's trying to find a performance measure that makes the V.A. (and him) LOOK good, before fixing what's bad (if he actually can).

The V.A. hospital here chronically has 15-20 openings for medical personnel, including top-level ones like surgeons, physicians and psychiatrists. They need to improve pay and working conditions so that working there is actually attractive to the people that they need.

[Ironwolf]

The VA should be run something like this:

1. Top notch first stage treatment center run by the Cleveland/Mayo clinic for soldiers coming in from the field and requiring prosthetics or other life altering care.

2. All veterans are given a card they may use at ANY hospital to get any problems related to their service to their country treated for FREE, for LIFE.

This removes the bureaucrats from the equation and will cut billions from the cost, reduce wait times for care and allow the local hospitals to address the problems in a far superior way. This has been a problem since before Vietnam - so it isn't new and it is a huge cash cow for all the friends of those in power.