Donald Siefken badly injured his foot earlier this year. The 64-year-old Army veteran drove to the VA Puget Sound Seattle campus emergency room for care. He struggled to enter the facility and couldn’t continue just a few feet outside the door. Siefken called the emergency room seeking assistance. The person who answered the phone told him to call 911 and hung up on Siefken.
Seattle Firefighters had to come to assist the veteran in getting through the doors of the VA.
Initially, the VA agreed it was not the responsibility of staff to assist the veteran in walking through the emergency room door. An apology soon followed when a reporter requested Siefken’s medical file.
Not only is this a poor way of treating a veteran who served his country, requiring the fire department come and assist him in simply getting through the door, it is an abuse of taxpayer resources.
What would you say to the Veterans Administration regarding this treatment? Please comment below.
H/T: IJ Review
Any time you call a VA number you will get a message like this “If you have an emergency hang up and call 911” and hell I did not know they had an Emergency Room care, I don’t think Atlanta does. I know you can go and wait for hours to see a Quack for things. Best bet is to call 911 and let them take you to the nearest emergency room and have family cll VA and tell them so they can either move you or they pay the bill. The VA has gotten worse since Obama has been in office, I use to see a VA doctor every 3 months now it is 6 or 12 months to see one and never do I see the same doctor, plus you are lucky if the day before your appointment you don’t get a voice mail or snail mail informing your appointment has been cancelled and will be reset later the VA will send you a new card. I now have been waiting for over a year to see that damn doctor. The VA is so screwed-up it is crazy. When I go to Atlanta the halls will be full of staff mostly and vets are sitting in waiting areas so that tells me the staff are not working but have time to eat and visit inhouse stores. It sucks, they could tear down all VA hospitals and allow Vets to use local hospitals and doctors and could save lives and money.
Thomas, I agree 100% but this is a case of yet another lazy, no good for nothing government worker. And Thomas, it all starts from the top on down.
Tax Payers pay their Salary,and it is not their RESPONSIBILITY.
Then I would SUGGEST they go find a job they can do. The one that ANSWERED THE PHONE AND HUNG UP SHOULD DO JUST THAT. Go find another JOB,HE or SHE no longer works there. What a DISGRACE to tell an AMERICAN VET to CALL 911,when they are just a few feet from them. That tells me that VERY LAZY PEOPLE WORK WHERE THEY DON’T BELONG,there is more important reasons to be working other than just getting a PAY CHECK…
THIS PISSES ME OFF,,,,,, YOUR FKN FIRED,,,,,, NOW GET OUT NOW !!
I would of actually thought that it was “Any ones” responsibility to assist someone hurt, but I guess not in this day and age anymore. This great nation is becoming a land of lazy, no good for nothing cry babies.
I agree. I worked for the VA for 4 years in Richmond VA and I’m appalled at the actions of many of our VA hospitals. Where I worked (3 years ago) this would never have had happened. We prided our self in Richmond has taking what ever steps needed to help the Vets (which most of us are). We had a few bad apples in the time I was there but most didn’t last. I talked to my old boss a few months ago and asked how the IG inspection went after the blow up last year and he told me Richmond passed with fling colors.
There are a lot of us government workers out here that take our oaths and responsibility very much to heart. But I agree it is a uphill battle dealing with the bureaucracy that has built up over the years.