Soldier gets billed for Humvee parts damaged in bombing that tore off his hand.

[maddog]

Originally Posted by TomJoe

. . .
Try walking into a VA hospital (here in the US) sometime... it's possibly the most depressing hospital environment to find oneself in.

I got a kind of look at that in the film "Born on the Fourth of July" about Ron Kovic (sp?), who became an anti-war activist after suffering a crippling injury in Viet Nam.

OTOH, in my real-life experience recently with VA hospitals, I was very impressed with the kinds of facilities they had for my pal Charlie, the kinds of treatment they offered him, their willingness to place him closer to home (mostly for my sake), and thank IPU for the Nursing Home Care Unit's Palliative Care Program, which provided real, honest-to-goodness 24/7 medical care in a reasonably pleasant environment for a terminal guy with nowhere else to go. And because it was part of the larger VA hospital, any extraordinary or other (e.g., dental, rehab, phys ther, soc worker) services he needed were available on the premises. Because Charlie didn't really have money, it was in essence the only choice for him. While one would always prefer autonomy and being among one's own objects in familiar surroundings, the VA NHCU was a blessing which relieved the real, inexpert people in Charlie's life (basically, me and his landlady) of incredible burdens that would have made all three of us much unhappier in the end.

The director of the NHCU at my local VA hospital said bluntly that 1800 veterans die every day, and the government should do more to help these guys at the end of their lives. I agree wholeheartedly. And, in this case, b/c the unit is in the charge of a guy who really cares like that, the facilities and the care that Charlie received were pretty darn good, if you ask me.
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