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| Home Front: Politix |
| Health Care, Dignity, and even a fishing pole |
| 2009-08-27 |
| The VA deserves a lot of the criticism it gets, but they do get it right sometimes. Here's a break from the bad news. More than 16 million men and women served in Word War II, and less than 2.3 million of these veterans are still alive. About 1,000 World War II veterans are dying each day. By 2020, this group could be gone. My grandfather, Lynn Nichols, is a very independent World War II veteran. When he was released from the hospital and placed temporarily into a nursing home earlier this year, he checked himself out within hours. He was horrified at some of the conditions in nursing homes that our elderly people face each day. A couple of weeks later, it became apparent that home health care was not going to be a long-term option for him. My grandfather and other relatives explored whether he could enter the Tomah VA Medical Center. He was admitted to the center's hospice program a couple of months ago. When my grandfather needed help the most, the Tomah VA Medical Center staff and programs were there for him. My grandfather was very sick and not focused on the future when he entered hospice care. I was not sure what to expect when I visited him the first time. But I found the facilities to be welcoming and immaculately clean. The staff is responsive and available for the patients. Instead of being warehoused and waiting to die, the Tomah VA Medical Center staff has treated him with dignity, as a veteran. The center strives to make him as comfortable as possible. Recently, he was sized for and received a new wheelchair. The staff also ordered a pocket talker for him to communicate with. He is hard of hearing, and a staffer patiently showed him how to use the device. My uncle brings up his pet dog to visit almost every day. My grandfather even gets to go fishing in a pond on site. No one in my family could have handpicked a better care setting for him. For my grandfather and other veterans at the Tomah center, each day is to enjoy and live to the fullest -- instead of a day to endure. My grandfather is receiving medical care 55 years after World War II ended. We have a great medical care system for veterans now, and the system is expanding. The Tomah center is one of 153 such medical centers in the nation and one of 135 that provide nursing home care. In 2008, about 5.5 million veterans received medical treatment at these facility. In Wisconsin, we have almost 450,000 living veterans, and more than 325,000 served during a war, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The Tomah VA Medical Center has been a fantastic resource for my grandfather. We need to work together to ensure the veterans who served and made sacrifices for our freedom have quality health care available for generations to come. |
| Posted by:mom |
| #1 [Themes from ANDY GRIFFITH + MAYBERRY RFD here]. FTLG don't fergit the loyal tail-wagging Southern hound = dog. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2009-08-27 23:58 |