How I FIRED the VA from my Medical Care...

This past Tuesday I had a routine mammogram scheduled for 8 am at the VA Medical Center in Dallas.

As part of my "make sure that cancer beast doesn't come back" and "that MRI looked weird but it was nothing"  - I am on a mammogram-every-six-months-routine.

But really I wasn't feeling the rainy dark drive in rush hour to get to South Dallas for my mammogram...so for the first time since I have been going to the VA [7years] I called to reschedule.

Or I TRIED to reschedule.

Over the course of several hours on Tuesday I tried to reschedule my mammogram.

I am always sent a letter for my appointments so I called the official reschedule number on the letter....well there were 3 numbers on there for rescheduling so I called the first one.

And this is how it went:

Me:  I want to reschedule my mammogram - gave my name and last four 

VA: Oh we don't do that here, you called the CT dept .... let me transfer you. 

Transfer #1

Me:  I want to reschedule my mammogram - gave my name and last four

VA:  Oh we don't do that here, you called the blah blah blah dept....let me transfer you.

Me:  Oh, ok the CT dept transferred me here sorry about that

Transfer #2

Me:  I want to reschedule my mammogram - gave my name and last four

VA:  Ok....when would you like that for?

Me:  Can we do this after the first of the year?  I have a dentist appointment then I can do them all around the same time.

VA: Oh we can't schedule that - you will have to call the original doctor to reschedule

Me:  I don't know who that is.  Do you have their name?

VA: No, I don't see that either.

Me: Ok I will figure something out.

I then called the Oncology clinic thinking that they had at one time or another set those things up for me -  I had to leave a message they called me back 3 hours later.

Me:  I need to reschedule a mammogram - gave name and last four

VA: Oh we don't do that here - let me give you a number to call

AND SHE GAVE ME THE ORIGINAL NUMBER I CALLED THE VERY FIRST TIME

prepare for cursing!

F!@$ You VA!  You are FIRED!*

*except if i do get cancer again cause your doctors and surgeons are awesome - maybe

After 7 years of 8 hour wait times, cranky and unfriendly support staff I fire the VA from my basic medical care.  It may be "free" but it's not - it cost me time and aggravation every time I walk in those doors.

I finally realize why many of the patients are cranky while they are there --- I always chalked it up to the "cranky old man" syndrome but they probably just tried to reschedule an appointment.

A simple thing such as reschedule an appointment should not be so difficult.

Husband says the VA is a govt run organization .... and as with many govt run organizations they suck at the basics. They know that it's damn hard to fire them so many just do enough or even less than enough to get by.  

Well, I have had enough.

*I do want to specify - the Doctors and Nurses, the X-Ray Techs, the MRI Techs - those people are great and I have had nothing but great care and interaction from them.  The VA's support staff - that is where the problems are.

~K