Government employees may be staffing the hospitals but oversight at the level of the board/owners belongs to elected officials at the highest level. The Department of Veterans Affairs is headed by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is the component of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) that implements the medical assistance program of the VA through the administration and operation of numerous VA outpatient clinics, hospitals, medical centers and longterm healthcare facilities. Under Secretary for Health, Dr. Michael J. Kussman, heads the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and is responsible for the operation of the nation's largest integrated health care system. He has a long history of military service.
is this the government employee you are referring to? appointed by a guy who was appointed by Bush? i just want to make sure you blame the correct faceless government employees.
but blaming the poor quality of care at our VA hospitals - which is a sin worse than aborting a embryo in my book - is not ultimately the fault of the average government worker. i don't blame them anymore than i blame the slowpoke at the fast food counter - i blame the person who hired them, supervised them, determined the environment in which they function and the incentives (or lack) for their performance. yes i realize that the VA does not have pay for performance - but the vast majority of health care providers are opposed to p4p anyway. so that is not a legitimate argument for poor care.
basically, the VA is part of the military. it is administered by present and former members of the armed forces - under the supervision of elected officials who are ultimately accountable to the voters. if i believe in the competency of the military to train physicians and to train leaders, then i should believe they are competent to run an integrated health system. i would LOVE to believe they are even more competent than the average IHS administrators.
but simply throwing a blanket statement about "the average government worker" shifts the blame and does nothing to look at the source of the problem. which i suspect is more about prioritization of supervision at higher levels and not about lazy doctors and nurses.
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I don't know if this issue occured BECAUSE it was a VA hospital.
Private and non-profit hospitals are accountable to their boards and/or owners as well.
I didn't attach the links to prove that one was better than another, but rather to show that private and public all have challenges.
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Government employees may be staffing the hospitals but oversight at the level of the board/owners belongs to elected officials at the highest level. The Department of Veterans Affairs is headed by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is the component of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) that implements the medical assistance program of the VA through the administration and operation of numerous VA outpatient clinics, hospitals, medical centers and longterm healthcare facilities. Under Secretary for Health, Dr. Michael J. Kussman, heads the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and is responsible for the operation of the nation's largest integrated health care system. He has a long history of military service.
http://www1.va.gov/opa/bios/biography.asp?id=53
is this the government employee you are referring to? appointed by a guy who was appointed by Bush? i just want to make sure you blame the correct faceless government employees.
Bea
bea, you and I both know that the person at the top of a bureaucracy, while ultimately responsible,
but blaming the poor quality of care at our VA hospitals - which is a sin worse than aborting a embryo in my book - is not ultimately the fault of the average government worker. i don't blame them anymore than i blame the slowpoke at the fast food counter - i blame the person who hired them, supervised them, determined the environment in which they function and the incentives (or lack) for their performance. yes i realize that the VA does not have pay for performance - but the vast majority of health care providers are opposed to p4p anyway. so that is not a legitimate argument for poor care.
basically, the VA is part of the military. it is administered by present and former members of the armed forces - under the supervision of elected officials who are ultimately accountable to the voters. if i believe in the competency of the military to train physicians and to train leaders, then i should believe they are competent to run an integrated health system. i would LOVE to believe they are even more competent than the average IHS administrators.
but simply throwing a blanket statement about "the average government worker" shifts the blame and does nothing to look at the source of the problem. which i suspect is more about prioritization of supervision at higher levels and not about lazy doctors and nurses.
Bea
Edited 9/16/2008 12:10 pm ET by queenbea4
Edited 9/16/2008 1:01 pm ET by queenbea4
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Do you have some kind of evidence to back this statement up or is this just a HUGE assumption?
What a great post!
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