Kevin Ferris: VA needs better care for injured warriors

A llen McQuarrie is looking for a few good doctors. He wants them to volunteer their time and talents to their local Veterans Administration hospital.

There simply aren’t enough doctors and specialists to go around for diagnosis and treatment – or to guide vets through the bureaucratic maze.

Worse, one of the current conflict’s signature wounds – brain injuries – makes it difficult for some vets to juggle the appointments, record-keeping and other demands the VA puts on them.

“We’re doing a wonderful job of getting the wounded off the battlefield and into a hospital in Germany and then back here,” McQuarrie says. “But continuing care once they’re out of the military is what needs systemic change.”

McQuarrie learned of the system’s shortcomings because of his son Doug, a 21-year veteran of the Navy SEALs who has back and brain injuries sustained in combat and training.

Doug McQuarrie has shuttled from VA to civilian doctors, while trying to hold down a job and support his family in Virginia. The civilians say he needs immediate care, but the VA can’t see him for months – although he can call daily, hoping for a cancellation. He accumulates records and X-rays, some at his own expense, and the VA loses the entire file. In the meantime, his pain and sleep deprivation worsen, which aggravate his brain injury.

Allen McQuarrie has tried to help from his home in Doylestown, Pa., calling the VA but also seeking assistance from senators and representatives. He’s learned that the VA desperately needs help.

Despairing and angry, he wrote to Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa.: “It may be better for our men and women to come home dead than to suffer such painful and ultimately mortal deterioration.”

He asked for emergency legislation to encourage civilian doctors to “adopt” vets and provide the immediate neurological care many need. He suggested tax incentives and improved military insurance to help offset the volunteers’ costs.

McQuarrie’s hopes for a more responsive, faster-acting VA are shared by others who have studied disability care and benefits, including the White House commission led by former Sen. Bob Dole and former cabinet secretary Donna Shalala and Congress’ Veterans Disability Benefits Commission.

One member of the latter, retired Marine Corps Maj. Gen. James E. Livingston, emphasizes three changes that must be done.

“Have a single review for disabilities. Now there are two, one by the Defense Department to determine fitness for active duty, and another by the VA that looks at all physical and mental problems. Time lags and differing diagnoses create delays.

“Streamline the record-keeping process as vets move from care by the Defense Department to VA.

“Adopt technology that will improve efficiency and speed treatment.

And don’t worry about the costs. Congress has backed some of the panels’ recommendations in its Wounded Warrior legislation, which awaits action. But not all the reforms are there. If they can’t be adopted expeditiously as part of the overall bill, then create a separate bill. Fund them generously and get the Defense Department and VA moving.

If more help is needed during the transition, then consider McQuarrie’s idea for a volunteer doctor corps.

Casey is taking the idea seriously.

“Physicians would want to help on a project like this,” Casey says. “There’s a deep reservoir of concern and this would help them contribute to helping soldiers make the transition from battlefield to home and to their families.”

In the end, appeals to Casey and Sen. James Webb, D-Va., bore fruit. The head of the VA in Virginia has told Doug he will be given an immediate appointment to assess his needs and make appropriate referrals.

Allen says that “though this is good news for Doug, and we could not be more grateful, my concern is that all our disabled and injured warriors should not have to resort to contacting higher authority to get the help they need.”

If volunteers will help, implement the idea. But don’t delay the reforms needed to fulfill the moral obligation this country owes veterans and their families.