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House panel head says turf battles hurting veteran care

By TED ILIFF
House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Bob Filner (D-CA) participates in a roundtable discussion on the military and "wounded warrior" care, in Washington on September 22, 2009. UPI/Kevin Dietsch
1 of 6 | House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Bob Filner (D-CA) participates in a roundtable discussion on the military and "wounded warrior" care, in Washington on September 22, 2009. UPI/Kevin Dietsch | License Photo

WASHINGTON, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- The chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs Tuesday scolded the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments for waging turf battles that interfere with improving healthcare for wounded veterans.

U.S. Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., praised the media for drawing attention to substandard conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and other military medical facilities in the past two years. However, he said the momentum for reform is being lost because of jurisdictional differences.

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Filner was a panelist at a forum titled "Wounded Warriors: Where Are They Now" hosted by United Press International.

He said the Defense Department and Department of Veterans Affairs have failed to coordinate their care for veterans in the transition from active service to discharge or retirement. As an example, he cited the incompatibility of medical records for a veteran dealing with the two departments.

"(The Defense Department) and VA don't have the same electronic medical record system," he said. "This is a matter of life and death and they can't talk to each other. In Iraq, they strap records on a guy's chest. This is trivial in terms of a technology problem. They've talked about it for years and still haven't figured it out."

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Filner added that the turf battles extend to Congress.

"It's hard to focus when you're dealing with turf issues," he said. "We can't seem to get a joint discussion that gets results. It's not just the executive branch; it's our problem too."

Similar concerns were expressed by Sarah Wade, whose husband Ted was severely wounded in Iraq in 2003. She said the case management system that is supposed to help her husband sometimes creates hurdles.

"Some (programs) overlap jurisdiction," she said. "And there are holes because everyone points the other way and says it's (another agency's) problem. Everyone has trouble with continuity and (staff) turnover. One way to fix the problem is to streamline and consolidate."

She said some of the reforms enacted after the Walter Reed scandal have actually caused more trouble for wounded veterans.

"Everything is process-driven in the name of oversight and quality," she said, "but there's a failure to treat the person as an individual."

Scott Quilty, who lost an arm and a leg in Iraq, said medical care for wounded and returning veterans overlooks the challenge of reintegration. He said in his case, learning to use prostheses was "easy."

"The most difficult portion was the reintegration, rejoining my family, my community," Quilty said. "We have a lot of strategies in this country but we don't have a strategy to effect a healthy homecoming for service veterans and their families. We need a national strategy that rivals a plan for war."

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Other suggestions from the panel included removing procedural obstacles in qualifying for VA care and giving more attention to work and career issues facing veterans when they leave active duty.

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