Disappointed in My Army Family

I haven’t posted much the last couple of days- on Blogger, Twitter, or Facebook- because I’m frustrated. And I needed a moment to work through it in my head.

Unfortunately, that moment didn’t help a whole lot.

It feels like every day this week someone I know has been seriously let down by the Army in some sort of medical related situation.

Bethany at A Southern Belle and Her Officer posted about her husband’s truly appalling experience with a PA regarding a service related injury and a refusal to fill mental health prescriptions. Someone I’ve known through an army spouse message board was told that the hospital didn’t have time to make her appointment- at 36 weeks pregnant. Another friend here has been dealing with a complication filled pregnancy, the MTF dragging it’s feet on her referral, and now was hospitalized for three days because of major concerns about her health. She has not heard from her FRG or Rear D in over a month. And this is after a previous pregnancy complication resulted in her deployed husband being sent home briefly. It’s not as if the Rear Detachment and FRG are not aware of the fact that there is a serious issue going on.

These things embarrass me.

I love our soldiers. I love being a part of the Army Family. I feel privileged and honored to watch my son grow up surrounded by heroes. We are blessed by the support and opportunities made available to us by virtue of being a part of the Army Family.

Most of the time, it is enough. Most of the time.

I HATE that whenever (and it is all too common) medical concerns like the ones I’ve seen and heard about this week come up, people shrug their shoulders and say “It’s the Army!”

What exactly does that mean? That because our husbands are in the military, those pregnant friends of mine should settle for substandard care at one of the most vulnerable moments of their lives? That our soldiers should be satisfied with what they get?

No. NO. Not acceptable.

When my Doctor at Fort Leonard Wood was incredibly rude to me, flat out LIED in his rebuttal to my complaint, then mixed me up with a completely different patient, it took days of regular phone calls to Patient Advocacy and eventually to the CG’s office to get a resolution. That resolution came in the form of a sit down meeting with the Deputy CG- who was incredibly apologetic, very upfront about the challenges the hospital was facing, and took steps to rectify the situation immediately.

But WHY did it take so much? Is that the right way to handle it? Is there a better way that will still get results?

The Army can not eliminate rude, inconsiderate or the sometimes grumpy docs. And I wouldn’t ask them to. However, it IS their responsibility to make sure that the medical professionals and the support staff are competent. It is also their responsibility to make sure that there is a clear, accessible method of handling the situation when the soldiers or their families are unsatisfied with their care. There should be a standard, easy to understand method for requesting and setting up a second opinion- which is a STANDARD practice in modern medicine.

I’m still working on the best way to address these concerns. But last night, as I drove the hour home from a Nashville hospital where I was visiting a friend who is being allowed to fall through the cracks, I was unbelievably saddened. Disappointed in the Army Family that I am so proud to be a part of. Embarrassed that the community that I have staunchly defended should so thoroughly FAIL to provide even a base level of support for a woman who simply needed it.

I don’t know what the answer is, but there is one out there. If nothing else, I’m going to make some noise and let people know that there are options and a course of action to be taken.