Report: VA still far off care goals

[unhappycamper]

Report: VA still far off care goals
By Hope Yen - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Sep 26, 2007 10:08:23 EDT

Months after pledging to improve veterans care, the Bush administration has yet to find clear answers to some of the worst problems afflicting wounded warriors, such as delays in disability payments and providing personalized care, investigators said.

A report by the Government Accountability Office, released Wednesday, offers the first preliminary assessment of improvement efforts initiated by the Pentagon and Veterans Affairs Department after revelations in February of shoddy outpatient treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

The report found that even though the Army has touted creation of more personalized medical care units so that wounded veterans don’t slip through the cracks, nearly half — or 46 percent — of returning service members who were eligible did not get the service due to staffing shortages.

The report said the Pentagon and VA still remain far away from having a comprehensive system for sharing medical records as injured veterans move from facility to facility.

And despite months of review by no less than eight congressional committees, a presidential task force, a presidential commission and the Pentagon and VA itself, the government has no apparent solution for reducing severe delays of 177 days, on average, in providing disability payments.

“Many challenges remain, and critical questions remain unanswered,” GAO investigators John H. Pendleton and Daniel Bertoni wrote in calling for urgent action. “Success will ultimately depend on sustained attention, systematic oversight by DoD and VA, and sufficient resources.”


Rest of article at: http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2007/09/ap_vetcare_070926/