Hurry Up and Wait

I was recently laid off from work and not only found myself without a paycheck, but I also no longer had any health insurance or life insurance. I am a Vietnam Veteran, so I figured I would go to the VA Hospital and they could help me with my prescriptions I needed for my diabetes.

Since I have never been to the VA Hospital before I had to get registered so I could use their facilities. What a nightmare this was! First of all it took me nearly 100 phone calls before I was able to actually speak with someone who could help me with the registration process. She told me where I could find the form online I needed to register. So I emailed the form and mailed a hard copy with my signature to the address I was given.

I followed up the next week to see if I could go to VA Hospital to get prescriptions only to be told that they had never received my form or DD 214. Well, nobody ever had said anything to me about sending my DD 214, they just told me to send in the form. Of course this process required several dozen more phone calls to get straight. Finally after two weeks of phone calls I was told I could come in and complete the registration process.

The VA Hospital is an hour away from where I live and I recently learned there is a VA Clinic closer to my home (only 20 minutes away). However, there is a long waiting list to be seen at this clinic. I asked to be put on the list.

When I went to the VA Hospital to complete the registration process I ended up being there for 7 hours. I had spent about 15 minutes with a clerk while she entered my info in a computer and another 5 minutes with a doctor while he asked me a few questions, and 10 minutes with a pharmacist who asked me more questions. The rest of the time was spent just waiting around!

Finally, after 7 hours I had the insulin I needed. Well, not exactly... it turns out that the VA does not carry two of the insulin types I have been taking. I was given a substitute for one, the other I could not get at all. Also, they could only give me one week worth of blood pressure medicine, again it wasn't the exact medicine I was taken but a substitute.

Now I am awaiting some paperwork and an ID card in the mail. The next step is to be assigned a doctor at the VA. Who knows how long that will take?

I am grateful that I can use the VA Hospital; however, the system is in dire need of improvement!

I will be writing much more here about my experiences. Please leave your comments, and be sure to visit my website, http://www.vietnamveteransinfo.com/.