Some of you may have noticed I’ve been a bit slack in posting the past week or so. Well, I hadn’t planned on explaining it, but a good post grew out of it, so here goes. <\/p>\n
I had some abdominal pain a few weeks ago and went to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center to have it checked out. Even though, as a compensable disabled vet, I’m eligible to use the VA, I’ll tell you why I prefer WRAMC; they kept Strom Thurmond alive for 100 years and the year after he moved back to South Carolina, he died. So I figure the WRAMC staff knows stuff. <\/p>\n
The staff at Walter Reed had me take a series of tests and scans trying to locate the problem, the last one being a CT scan last Thursday night. I was headed out the door Friday night to watch Aisha Tyler at the Improv here in DC when I got a call from the staff at Walter Reed who told me I needed to go the emergency room. Naturally, the first thing I thought of was 100-year-old Strom Thurmond, so I complied.<\/p>\n
The first person I saw when I went in the hospital was a greeter. No shit – a real greeter in a maroon blazer and a smile (she was wearing pants, too, guys) who said “Hello, welcome to Walter Reed Army Medical Center”. I like that shit – honestly. I reported in to the Emergency Room, since it was after regular hospital hours and they started wheeling me around to get X-rays and stuff and whisked me away to Ward 65. <\/p>\n
Let me tell you about Ward 65 – it’s like Hooters opened a hospital. Maybe it’s my age, but all of the nurses and doctors were gorgeous (well, except the few male doctors and nurses). They were friendly, yet professional – not something I would have expected after my time in the Army when all of the nurses looked like Frau Blucher<\/a> and acted like Nurse Ratched<\/a>. I was almost sorry to leave.<\/p>\n I had a flat screen TV (with Fox News Channel) and this remarkable bed that would automatically adjust to my bloated body every time I shifted to support my considerable weight. There was a guy who went room-to-room and took my meal order from a menu three times every day and personally brought my meal within 30 minutes of the time I posted my order. In the Army? Really?<\/p>\n Every medical person I had contact with from the X-Ray techs to the lowliest private vampire who came in the middle of the night to suck my blood out was professional and courteous. They did their job with a smile and a joke – more than what they “had” to do. Every. Single. One. It’s a sign of a professional staff and excellent leadership.<\/p>\n Yes, Walter Reed has suffered some public relations set backs recently on their out patient transient barracks<\/strong> which still gets mileage in the press and recently from “some people” on this blog. But I want to emphasize that there have NEVER been complaints about inpatient care – and, despite that, Walter Reed has gone the extra mile to improve the day-to-day conditions for the troops. <\/p>\n Personally, I’d like to commend, not only the staff in the emergency room and Ward 65, but also the commander, Major General Carla G. Hawley-Bowland<\/a> and her sergeant major Command Sergeant Major James E. Diggs<\/a> for making this an exceptional unplanned stay in their excellent facility. They’ve created a hospital that our troops deserve at the time the troops most need it.<\/p>\n I’m sure there’s room for improvement and I won’t argue with anyone who says so based on their recent experiences, but this post is based on a comparison of my stays this weekend and five years ago for another surgery. <\/p>\n Now, I know this post will generate a lot of “I hope you feel better”, and “Sorry to hear” comments. Thank you, but it’s really not necessary – that’s not why I wrote this post. I’ve been reading comments on here from “some people” on how poor military health care is, on the assembly line treatment for soldiers. I hope this post puts some of that to rest. I’ve never been treated better any where in any hospital – including some exclusive hospitals where I’ve had stays.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"