Re “The Difference Between McDonald’s and the Hamburgers at the VA”
April 6, 2011
Gen. Eric K. Shinseki (USA Ret.)
Secretary, Dept. of Veterans Affairs
Washington, D.C.
Dear Mr. Secretary:
In my letter to you on Sunday, I informed you that last Friday the receptionist at the West Los Angeles VA could not reschedule me for a new appointment any time sooner than a couple of weeks away and could only offer late afternoon appointment options. He further informed me no morning appointments were available for the entire month of April,
Yesterday, I received a phone call from the West Los Angeles VA offering me two different morning appointment options for either Wednesday or Thursday of this week.
It's obvious that I was originally lied to. This abusive mistreatment to all Veterans must cease. Moreover, it underscores the absolute necessity that Donna Beiter must either resign or be fired, posthaste.
There needs to be a housecleaning and transformation at the West Los Angeles VA. Federal employees at the West Los Angeles VA are hired to serve Veterans and provide them with top quality healthcare and shelter services, not lie to them, neglect and abuse them.
It's important to point out and acknowledge that not every medical department or all employees at the West L.A. VA be lumped into a one-size-fits-all level of non-caring civil servants and medical professionals. To the contrary, many are very professional. They go the extra mile. That is greatly appreciated. However, this professionalism should not be the exception, but the norm.
Correspondingly, I do not believe the receptionist in the Dermatology Dept. lied to me. Instead, I believe it was the West Los Angeles VA that lied to me as the receptionist was not given the truth and could only convey what someone else was fabricating within the posted appointment schedule.
As mentioned, I was not writing you on my behalf, but on behalf of all other Veterans who suffer this same abusive misrepresentation and mistreatment at the West Los Angeles VA.
Thus, I did not seek any special treatment. I only wanted what was responsibly and readily available. We now know other options were available to accommodate my request for a morning appointment within a brief amount of time.
Had I not witnessed and experienced what happened on Friday and spoken out, I would not have been offered this “accommodating” appointment. This simply compounds the problem because one Veteran is being accommodated while others will continue to be lied to and neglected.
That is not the American way. We are a nation that seeks to provide the best of services for our fellow citizens. We live under just laws of “equal opportunity for all and special privileges for none.”
The West Los Angeles VA operates under a unilateral and a different set of rules. This must end.
The Veterans’ “Declaration of Enforcement” calls for implementing and enforcing the Deed of 1888 as it was benevolently granted more than 123 years ago.
The 13 Articles of Enforcement are straightforward and necessary to permanently maintain the Veterans Home as a safe haven for shelter and healthcare needs.
If the Declaration had already been in place, what happened Friday and what is going on every day, would have been prevented.
President Obama campaigned on “change.” He promised to have a transparent administration. Neither of these is happening in the Dept. of Veterans Affairs.
On behalf of fellow Veterans, I urge you to take prompt action and implement the no-nonsense “Declaration of Enforcement” so that America's Veterans are always given honest care and treatment …. a change that is long overdue.
As respectfully requested in the past, please take immediate action to replace Donna Beiter, Ralph Tillman, Bill Daniels, Ronald Mathis and Jenelle Happy, et.al., at the West Los Angeles VA with a new staff of highly professional individuals who will enforce and honor the Deed of 1888 as the Charitable Trust that it is, and will provide America's Military Veterans with sincere and high quality shelter and healthcare services on these sacred grounds.
Mr. Rosebrock may be contacted at RRosebrock1@aol.com
