Member Bruce McCartney, our Atlanta bureau chief, sends us this one. Seems the Atlanta VAMC can’t keep track of it’s PTSD inpatients. To add insult to injury , they can’t or won’t take care of the outpatients either. This is part and parcel of the problem everywhere in the VHA system.
VA touts itself in commercials as to “go to” place to work and where morale is sky high. I could see that assessment in Colorado and Washington State as they have veeeery liberal pot laws. As for the other forty eight? I don’t think so.
Think back several years when the VA was called on the congressional carpet and stated they had authorized 1600 new slots for shrinks alone. News flash. Few of the jobs were filled. VA does not consider this a problem. The money was authorized. The Field of Dreams was constructed. Nobody showed up. VA does not consider this a failure on their part. Therein lies the problem. Too many chiefs and not enough indians.



With 66 vacancies, the VA should be contracting out to private mental health care people. Neglecting to do so signals that they aren’t serious about preventing veteran suicide I also fault the state government for not stepping up and working with the VHA and providing counselors. .
My VA shrink “flew the coop” with no follow-up appointment in the near future. At least I still have plenty of benzodiazepine prescriptions along with several other drugs. The VHA approach is to “dope up” vets into drooling idiots and forego the counseling. Some of the potential side effects of these drugs is to cause vets to commit suicide or murder with no emotional restraint at all. This hiring bull is just hype to dupe the public. They all speak with forked tongue.
YOU ARE 100% RIGHT SQ,its a EVIL GAME THEY PLAY, hang in there BRO, WE are all in the same boat.
PTSD= NO FIRE ARMS, that is what THEY are shooting for?
A county VSO told me the “local” raters were flagging the state backround firearm check for Vets who were rated at 70% for mental conditions. He (the County VSO) said the local Vets were afraid to get rated for PTSD because they didn’t want to lose their guns. I just frankly told him that his VARO rating “buddy” was blowing smoke up his ass just to keep Vets from claiming PTSD. Taking guns away from Vets in this Cowboy state will cause some serious uprising. We still tar and feather in these heeyaw parts!
Typical fare from an over blown system. The candidates saw the disparity in pay and ran for the hills not to mention that most probably do not want to put up with the BS from the VA.