Citizens sound off at VA town hall meeting

SPOKANE - As the mother of an eight-year military veteran, Sharon Casey has every reason to want the best care for America's vets.

She attended the Veterans Town Hall Meeting at the Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center in Spokane on Monday afternoon to express concerns and ask questions, such as her inquiry about medical advances and alternative practices and how they may be applied to the care of local service men and women.

"The comment that is made is that 'solving the U.S. health care crisis has evolved into a cycle of blame and shifting culpability, a futile pattern that stymies meaningful reform,'" Casey said, quoting the medical journal article she held in her hand. "I'm aware of many, many, several different discoveries in health science and I just wonder if the VA is open to those ... I wonder if you're open to alternatives."

Dr. Kimberly Morris, the VAMC's chief of medicine, answered Casey's question.

"There are multiple research centers throughout the VA and there are VA doctors that are at the center of a lot of this research, so the answer to your question is yes," Morris said. "If it's evidence-based and it has been proven to work, then it is a practice that we would adopt."

Casey said she is tired of "masking" problems with medications that help symptoms, but do not solve the issues, and she has been conducting research as well.

"It's our responsibility to take care of ourselves. Nobody else can," Casey said. "When push comes to shove, it's our own responsibility, and some of the chronic conditions that we live with forever, it's lifestyle changes to make a huge difference. But there's science out there that we don't know, that people need to know."

Casey and several of the roughly 75 attendees were able to share their experiences and have a dialogue with VAMC leaders and directors through a question raffle. Those who wished to ask a question were given a ticket and an announcer called out random numbers for the next speaker.

Questions and problems varied from the positive to the negative, some people sharing their dismay over their encounters with the VAMC while others applauded the center for its efforts and expedient and friendly service. Some discussed the Veterans Choice Program, which includes a special card and allows veterans the option to receive non-VA health care rather than waiting for a VA appointment or traveling several miles to a VA facility. Others expressed distress about the lack of 24-hour care, a change which occurred Dec. 1 that officials are working on so the center can return to a 24-hour care facility. Billing questions, patient transfers, staff accessibility and prescription medications were also conversation topics.

"Regarding pain management, it is a hot topic right now in the VA because there are several veterans who are way above the level of morphine equivalency for chronic pain management, so there is an effort to use those medications more appropriately," Morris said. "There's not an effort to just stop your pain medication but to be thoughtful about it and to have very thoughtful processes in evaluating each veteran to make sure that what they are on is appropriate."

Bret Bowers, public affairs officer for the VAMC, said he feels the session was a success. The next opportunity for veterans, family members, Congressional stakeholders, veteran service organizations and other veteran community partners to meet in a town hall setting is scheduled for June.

"It is so important to ensure that veterans and stakeholders have the opportunity to express their requests, concerns - and we're really grateful today to hear some positive feedback," Bowers said. "The meeting was very successful because we heard directly from veterans about their concerns, which included anything from pain management to prescription medication to the Vets Choice Card, which we're working really hard not only to implement, but also ensure increased access to our veterans."