Dallas VA receives one-star rating

Jan. 05--The Department of Veteran Affairs' Dallas hospital medical center has received a one-star rating, the lowest rating possible, according the agency's internal ratings.

USA Today released the ratings last month after obtaining a copy of them.

The VA released its internal hospital ratings late in December and reported an increase in the quality of care that veterans are receiving.

The move came after a USA TODAY investigation that included information that was published in early December that had never before been released to the public, including hospital scores for all 146 VA hospital.

In late December, the VA released more updated scores, indicating whether hospitals had improved or declined in their ratings.

The Dallas VA hospital is the closest hospital to Parker County but there is an outpatient clinic in Fort Worth.

The information should have always been public, said John Hale, Parker County veterans service officer.

There was an overall 82 percent increase in hospital improvements, according to the the VA.

The ratings go on a scale from one to five, with one being the lowest score.

While the Dallas VA received a one star rating, its most recent score indicated small improvements in various sub categories such as patient access, care transition and avoidable adverse events.

However, those improvements were not enough to bump up the overall efficiency score of the facility.

El Paso, Alburquerque, Los Angeles, Detroit, Memphis and Nashville were major facilities that received a one star rating as well.

After having seen hundreds of veterans a month, many appreciate the services and increases in disability claim turnaround but are still frustrated with the response time and overall bureaucracy of obtaining health care services, Hale said.

"I've been here 10 years, it used to take one and half to two and half years," Hale said of processing disability claims. "Now I've seen turnaround of 6 to 7 months. For the VA that's lightning speed."

The scores are based on multiple indicators such as death rate, complications, patient satisfaction and overall efficiency.

The increase in outpatient clinics such as the ones in Fort Worth and Plano should reduce the burden the Dallas VA faces by mere volume of patients, Hale said.

"They (Dallas VA) were doing the vast majority of compensation claims and now, I can't get over the speed at which this is working," he said.

The VA has always had a problem of being overwhelmed by the amount of veterans they have to treat, Hale said.

"The VA is a massive organization, but there are millions and millions of veterans," he said.

"Overall healthcare is moving up; the timeframe and processing time is the inherent bureaucracy that's being formed around it," said Ron Chandler, Weatherford American Legion Post 163 public relations officer. "This is one of the largest budgets in the country. It takes a creative and big bureaucracy to manage it."

"You need more doctors, you need oversight," Chandler added.

The VA has some of the best facilities for the specific combat trauma services they specialize in, but effective care also comes down to personnel management and finances, Hale said.

"They need more people because there's so many veterans," he said. "Where do you get the money to hire people. That's the problem."

___

(c)2017 Weatherford Democrat (Weatherford, Texas)

Visit Weatherford Democrat (Weatherford, Texas) at weatherforddemocrat.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.