So What IS a Patient Advocate's Job? The VA Doesn't Know

After everything that happened yesterday, I needed to find answers.  I was in no condition to work but tried anyways.  I made through a little over two and a half hours of my shift before I couldn't hide my grief anymore.  I was emotionally drained and physically exhausted.  I left work and I headed straight to the VA and asked to speak to the Patient Advocate.  I was ushered into his office and he asked me how I was doing and what he could do for me.

I told him about the past month and the way that I had been treated and that I was very upset with the manner in which I had been informed of Doctor Casagrande's passing.  He responded without remorse that he and upper level administration had decided the best way to handle this 'situation' was to not allow non-clinical personnel to say anything and to keep mum until the vets came in for their next scheduled appointments.  At that time another doc would be waiting to (sarcasm here) 'blindside' an unsuspecting veteran with this horrible news.  I was stunned.  I told the advocate that I don't have scheduled sessions with Doc Casagrande and that I was only in his group CPT session.  The advocate responded, "So many people come and go through the groups that we didn't bother."  Again - stunned.  I told the advocate it would have been easy to see, if he would have bothered to look at the rosters that I had been at EVERY session for the last six to nine months.  Remorseless, he deflected my comment with something along the lines of what's done is done and 'gee, we're so sorry you found out this way.'  I followed up by telling him that no one offered me grief counseling, nothing.  He very quickly offered, :"would you like to talk to someone now?"

It was at this point that I realized that the administrators had no flipping clue how to handle these situations.  This advocate, along with administration higher up, put hundreds of behavioral health patients at risk with their approach to dealing with the doc's passing.  I wondered if the disconnect flowed into the care side, so I said I would like to talk to someone.  I was introduced to a clinician (I don't remember if she was a doc or a nurse or a social worker) and talked about how messed up I was from all of this and it became very evident to me that she was distressed at how distressed I was.  She told me that every veteran that she had seen in connection to Doc Casagrande's death had reacted EXACTLY the same way I have.  She also mentioned (although I don't think she really meant to) that there were still veterans that didn't know because they hadn't been in for their scheduled appointments yet.  She told me, "I know, after everything that's happened that you have no reason to trust us, but would you at least talk to one of the docs tomorrow who is taking over Doc Casagrande's patients?"

I could sense her frustration with the whole situation.  This was an utter mess and Doc's co-workers were just as caught in this storm as I was.  I said I would meet with someone tomorrow and I scheduled my time to meet.

After I left and was on my way home, I thought about the whole situation and it made me incredibly disgusted.  That patient advocate was to advocate for what was best for the patients.  Either one of two things explain his decision:  He was lazy and didn't want to put in the extra work and due diligence to make sure every one of the doc's patients was informed as quickly as possible OR he was put in the position to make this decision without any knowledge of what WAS best for us.  The VA needs to understand how much danger they put the veterans in.  If I was any less stable than I am, I would have done things I would have regretted (become a danger to others) or done something I would never be able to regret (committed suicide).  Every veteran should have been afforded an equal opportunity to grieve and should have been told in enough time to attend the memorial services.  The way they decided to handle this situation was reprehensible and inhumane.

So, I stand by what I said yesterday in my post.  The VA needs radical change.  And it needs it now.  No longer can we continue to put our nation's heroes at risk due to the ineptitude or apathy of bureaucrats.  I will fight from now until my last breath to make sure this change happens.  Come hell or high water.  I have had people tell me the system is too big to change.  I respond with this.  Bullshit.  When the people you are designed to serve are forced to go elsewhere to ensure they receive quality care and compassion, you have failed to meet the most basic of requirements for your continued existence.  I will not bear the legacy costs of a broken VA when those legacy costs are paid for with the blood of my fellow veterans who have lost hope and take their own lives.  The time for change is now.  Let's be heard, folks.  Don't stand silent and condone this with your inaction.  Fight for the change we all deserve.