Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Analysis Reveals Uneven Quality Of Care At VA Hospitals Across The Country
USA Today: Death Rates, ER Waits: Where Every VA Hospital Lags, Leads Other Care
When 66-year-old Navy veteran Phyllis Seleska arrived at the emergency room at the Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Loma Linda, California, in August 2017, the waiting room was crowded with dozens of veterans, some in wheelchairs lined up to the entrance. Seleska was suffering throbbing pain after shattering her wrist but received no medication and had to wait more than seven hours to see a doctor, records show. By then, the orthopedics staff had gone home. So a nurse strapped a Velcro splint on her wrist and told her to come back in the morning. “I don’t know why it took so long to get back there to be told we can’t do anything to help you,” said Seleska, who worked on the flight deck of aircraft carriers in both Gulf Wars. (Slack, Kelly and Sergent, 2/7)
In other military and health news —
Reuters: Senators Warren, Warner Question Contractors, Military On Unsafe Housing
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren has become the latest congressional leader to press for answers from military contractors over Reuters reports describing unsafe housing conditions on U.S. bases, sending letters this week to five large real estate firms seeking detailed information about their operations and profits. “A series of disturbing news reports have raised serious questions about the quality of privatized, on-base housing for military personnel,” the Democratic presidential contender wrote in the letters, sent Wednesday. “It would be profoundly troubling if your company, or your subcontractors, were maximizing short-term profit by providing military personnel with subpar housing.” (2/7)
