[blam]

"There is a VA Medical Center in El Paso, it looks like a small hospital and some people even refer to it as a VA hospital- it is not a hospital. It is really a complex of Drs offices. You go there to see your primary care physician and there are also **some** specialists there. They have a pharmacy. They have no ER, they have no way to treat life threatening things, only minor things. It's out patient based."

"The actual VA hospital for us is located in Albuquerque, it is a full fledged hospital with an ER. There are not that many full fledged VA hospitals nationwide. Where we are we can either go to Albq. or Tucson VA hospitals, both about 4 hours away. There are VA clinics in many small towns, and the Medical Center in EP that I already described."

I agree Tammy8, it's the same here in Mobile...the hospital is in Biloxi.
If you call the VA here, the first thing that is said is: "If this is an emergency, hang-up and call 911."

The VA is getting a bumb-rap on this, IMO. You don't go to your GP's office if you're dying, you go to an emergency facility.

My dad died of a heart attack in the parking lot of his heart doctor, I don't blame the doctor.

[Tammy8]

I've been trying to track this down and I guess even the VA hospitals have different levels they can handle. They call it Tertiaty level. Albuquerque VA Hospital is a Tertiary level 1 which means basically it is a full fledged hospital, and they work with the civilian hospital/medical school there. Tucson is also a Tertiary level 1. What we need to know I guess is what Tertiarty level the Spokane facility is. It sounds like it is a hospital, but maybe not a high enough Tertiary level to treat this man.

It is confusing, and I am not sure how they expect Veterans to keep up with it- how are they supposed to know if their local VA hospital is a "real" one or not.

This also makes me angry, this man and his family may not have even known they could not treat him there. If that is true then it is negligence- maybe not of this hospital, but in the system.

I also totally agree with other posters that illegals are treated better medically than our veterans. An illegal can show up at any ER and get treated, they don't have to know how a complex system works to show up at the right ER to get treated for what ails them. Illegals use the ER for primary care and if a Veteran tried that- they would end up with the bill. If we don't follow all the millions of rules of VA care, and get all the right approvals for treatment for my hubby- we will get stuck with the bill.

[Little Bill]

My old man a disabled WW2 Vet had a full work up at the VA hospital in Salt Lake City, in 1960. Died of a heart attack three days later, yes he did do a stress test.