At every level, Blacks are employed far beyond what their representation in the general population would indicate as normal.

For instance, the Dallas Oversight Committee has eight members....... six are Black.

At the large Ft Worth V A clinic, at least half of the staff are Black.

This is just an observation but in today’s climate, it is probably racist.

The problem with that approach is the large cities have a disproportionate number compared to everywhere else.

They like government jobs.

Gene,

your observation is representative of the Federal Govt in General...

saw that growing up around Wash DC...in Northern VA...

Affirmative Action, you get paid the same regardless of being competent or not.

in fact being a minority, you receive promotions at a faster pace, strictly for being a minority.

Takes an act of congress to fire you being a minority.. all you have to scream is racist
and all that ill will against you goes away... if it doesn't the employee that was non minority
trying to fire you, is fired and the minority gets a large settlement for harassment.

For all the reasons you see these minorities migrate to Federal Jobs is the big
reason I have never had the desire to work for the Feds, although I sure had a number
of opportunities to do so...

My folks, step dad is a retired AF Colonel and my mom is a retired GS 15., both with
big retirement benefits...that is also a big reason why so many migrate to Federal Jobs.

its bad at a state level most everywhere.. but its much worse with the Feds....

and give them an ounce of power, and they think they are King George.....

and plenty of them are racist SOBs to anyone who isn't there skin color either...

and with the Federal Govt, they get away with it...

VA employees are generally some of the least helpful, least competent government employees I encounter. That's why the VA is a mess. I get pissed every time they talk about funding. Hell, just insist that employees don't suck and streamline processes and most problems will go away.

Nashville VA is the same way. Over staffed with blacks far outside of their percent of population in society and in the military. It is one of the main reasons why the VA is so fuqqed up. Idiot groids running shyt beyond their intellectual capabilities. The correct term for places like this whether public or private sector is "N double O" aka. Niqqa Owned and Operated. And I will never rescind that opinion of what I have seen and observed since I retired in 08 and have seen to exist in the VA since. Vast majority of em are incompetent lazy low intelligence human 1.0,s due to scientifically proven genetic differences between all races, just like the vast majority of em are in society. Blacks are a burden to society and they vote democrat.....

It's an observation they want brought front and center but only if it benefits them.........

I grew up in northern Maine. Never exposed to negros except for the television show "good times". Joined the army and seen the difference in percentage of minorities in combat arms versus "combat support". Same thing in dealings with incompetent blacks in their little spheres, almost like unca sams glorified welfare program. The only ones that are human 2.0 are ones born to ones who have interbred with other races and have been recipients of more evolved DNA.

It depends. Until I moved west four years ago, I went to the VAMC in Des Moines. I can't say enough good about them. I got great care from the staff, and never had a major problem with the system. No overwhelming racial or ethnic presence that I noticed. Since then I get my care at a CBOC, a satellite clinic in a western state. The staff is fine when you actually get in to see them. My doc is perhaps the best doctor I have ever had, but the system sucks. Nearly impossible to communicate effectively with anyone by phone or their computer system. Messages fall into a black hole, and the right hand doesn't seem to know what the left is doing.

VA needs a major system overhaul, funding and politics aside. It should be led with the appointment at the highest level of true systems experts, and implemented without political interference. A dream, I know.

If history is any indicator, there will continue to be a lot of lofty pronouncements, but no effective change, and veterans will continue to suffer.

Paul

Demographics at local level equal your quality and competency of service and care. Then you go into the nationwide "black hole" service wise via phone or computer. So the VA you go to is fairly decent cause it is basically run by white people. I'm fairly sure if i had retired back in northen Maine and it's demographics the service and quality of care and attitude would be a total 180 difference from the "N double O" Nashville VA.

Curdog, that's part of 'Affirmative Action'. You may not be qualified, may not have the highest score on the employment aptitude test, you may have been fired from every job you ever had, but if your black, you get preferential treatment and 99 time out of a 100, you get the job. Then because it is a government job, it is almost impossible to fire you.

Nothing that couldn't be solved by a......GOOD DICTATOR!!

I have worked with a few over the years at different jobs. A couple of things that I have noticed. The ones from the South are very polite, almost overly polite. They know how to shcmooz, if you will. They know who to impress and when to do it, pro's at azz kissing. They seemed to have a very high feeling of entitlement.

The one from the north is a clock milker, not an azz kisser like the Southern.

Northern ones are really good at the "I'm not sure how to do it, can you give me a hand" and then stand back and watch while you do the task yourself. Even after being on the job for awhile.

Local VA has fired a few black CNAs while trying to fill open positions with minorities. You can only imagine how bad they were.

I’ve worked with some good, many lazy ones.

I submitted a well documented claim in Feb 2015 and have heard only that the claim was received. Every time I call about the claim they say it’ll be about a year.

Awhile back I was contacted by VA to ask if I would participate in a telephone survey. As an incentive, I was to receive a $20 gift certificate. I agreed. When the call came, I started by telling the nice lady pretty much what I said in my earlier post. She proceeded to read me some rather stupid questions, like did my doctor care about me? I said she seems to care, but how the hell should I know, I'm not a mind reader. When I got the gift certificate it turned out that it wasn't usable locally, I'd have to drive to a city two and a half hours away to find a participating store. The whole thing seemed like a waste.

Then there is the VetsChoice program, where if they can't get you an appointment within 30 days at a VA facility you can go to a private doc. Sounds good in theory, but what a cluster it turned out to be. After a lot of back and forth I got authorization to see a local specialist. That doc had a hassle getting paid, and I got a notice from VA saying it had been turned down. It may have been a misunderstanding at this end, but the info provided to the patient and doctor was far from clear. Then there was an issue with my glasses. Took a few months to get that resolved and I'm still waiting for my glasses..

Yet, back in Des Moines I had an appointment and saw a nurse I hadn't met before and learned there was a miscommunication and I didn't have an appointment with my doc. She said "Please wait a bit", and she brought in a doctor, an older guy who did a very thorough interview and exam and made several referrals. I later learned that he was Chief of Staff for the whole hospital. I was amazed that the chief doctor took time out of his schedule to fill in and see me. Like I said, the Des Moines VA always treated me very well.

Paul

Don't know about now, but back in my day (Vietnam Era) black soldiers FAR outnumbered their representation in the general population!


Just sayin....

I have had problems with the VA Dallas and filed a formal complaint against a black woman that was the weekend administrator. She talked to me like I owed her something and I wrote everything down as it was happening.
The complaint went nowhere and she denied even talking to me until I showed them my phone and the duration of the calls. 7 of them in two days. She got caught in a lie and got away with it. They ask me if an apology would smooth things over and I told them that firing her is the only thing that would give satisfaction. That's when they made it go away. She keeps treating vets like dirt and keeps getting her 100k plus salary every year. And I'm turned away and still know that it was wrong.
For anyone thinking about going to the VA and you have other options,go with the other option.

I think the blacks at the VA are doing jobs most other people won't, that's why there is a high number of them working there. My father is a Korea Vet with 40% disability and says he gets great treatment at the VA. I've inspected two VA hospitals, one in the NYC and the other in East Orange, NJ. For the short time I was there I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The Methadone line in NYC was 100 people long. I'm pretty sure the guys cleaning the chit up off the floor don't make a lot of money.

ain't just the va. i worked at redstone arsenal years ago and it was like i was in zimbabwe. i had to train them on a new computer app. most i ran into were dumb as a fuggen rock and nearly unintelligible. a hell of a lot of govt jobs are basically like welfare.

I feel that that the whole VA system needs a rework. Starting with eliminating most of the facilities and transferring primary care to the private sector.

The only exceptions should be with military specific diagnosis such as PTSD, amputation and prosthetics, etc.

I too, have had numerous opportunities to work in VA healthcare and just could not bring myself to do it.

My dad is having a hell of a hard time with the V/A. It's really sad all the hoops that an 85 year old Korean War vet has to jump through to get simple treatment. The constant calls for paperwork, mistakes and misinformation with follow up "corrections" is confusing and tiresome. The whole thing should be turned over to the private sector. If the government will pay for health care for welfare bums that can go about anywhere they please for any sort of treatment they want, then the damned government should allow our veterans the same opportunity for quality health care. It's maddening wading through the red tape and BS for little to no treatment.

I've been inside a lot of VA Hospitals... from my time in the service and also working in the medical field
for 40 plus years... a Point that was made, and I concur....it seems those in Northern States are a lot
better ran than in other parts of the country....

and sadly, the higher content of "afro" Americans, the worse off things seem to be...

I don't think it is that ALL Blacks are incompetent... its just the system hires many of the ones they
do, to meet Affirmative Action Quotas....not based on qualifications..

I've ran across a lot of lazy unmotivated white people also, both in VAs and other civilian Hospitals..
and even working in a Military Hospital.. while in the service...

But still bottom line, the problem exists at the Professional Level, the Managerial Level.

it is there jobs to make the system work....

and they are the ones, that are allowing low standards to dominate the VA system.

A family friend is a Veteran, who tried to get her benefits via the VA for 8 years here in Oregon..
Lord knows how many 250 mile one way trips to Potland...yet constant runaround...

Like the VA was getting paid for how long they could string Veterans out on taking care of the simplest
problems....

Her dad ended up with a terminal disease, so she packed up and moved home to Massachusetts
to be there for her parents. She goes down to file with the local VA, to continue her claim...

What she had tried to accomplish in getting her VA Benefits for 8 years in Oregon...
she had in 48 hours, in Massachusetts.. not only without any effort on her part...

the VA in Mass, went out of their way and pointed out she also qualified for benefits she
never knew about....

and took her disability from 50% to 100%....which was what it always should have been.

That is a difference in Management... not whether the employees are black or not...

Dad had roids, for about 30 years, he tried and tried to get the VA to do something to help. They'd treat his eyesight, other problems, but would never schedule a simple roid operation. His last few years were basically spent within a very short distance of the nearest commode. He wouldn't leave his room or go anywhere, in case he had to "go".

He died two years ago. I mourn that, but more than that, I mourn that his last few years were spent in considerable discomfort and pain.

. I blame the VA for that.

I have never signed up for VA benefits, mostly because I've had good jobs/benefits since leaving the Army, and didn't need them, but I'm still pissed about Dad's treatment.

I spent 29 years on active duty and I will never see the inside of a VA hospital.

[quote=Seafire

I've ran across a lot of lazy unmotivated white people also, both in VAs and other civilian Hospitals..
and even working in a Military Hospital.. while in the service...

But still bottom line, the problem exists at the Professional Level, the Managerial Level.

it is there jobs to make the system work....

and they are the ones, that are allowing low standards to dominate the VA system.

[/quote]

I recently spent 4 days with my Dad in ICU at the VA hospital in Biloxi, MS. We live in south AL and his primary care is the VA JACC (outpatient) P'cola, FL. When Dad needed serious help primary care referred him to the local ER. They would stabilize him and refer him to primary care. We went through this several times until we bypassed local ER and went to Biloxi, where he received excellent care from a determined doctor and staff in the ICU. This gifted doctor is a veteran who truly cares for his sick brethren. He was outraged at what Dad had been through.

What I witnessed in that ICU over a few days was quite remarkable. This doctor is aggressive, action oriented and compassionate all at once. He gets stuff done, right here, right now and his compassion for the fellow veteran is contagious.

While Dad was being discharged I went to thank the Dr. The first thing I told him was the VA could really use a couple hundred of you. Here was his reply.

"Therein lies the problem. The VA is very much like the swamp in D.C. The doctors and management within have created a good 'ole boys club that can be very hard to penetrate. They get in and ride the gravy train to retirement without working very hard. It is very hard for one who is not connected to get in. My private practice got wiped clean with O'care. It happened all across the country. There are many of us who want in, but we like to work. What Mr. Trump is trying to do in draining the swamp desperately needs to happen within the VA".

In my department at the VA, we have 48 employees and 2 are black. Maybe I should suggest to management we are behind on the quota.

Now we may be OK as we have one employee that is half Indian (country) and another who claims to be half Indian (native), but I think she's just Mexican.

The VA gives me health care,kinda.There are very few actual Doctors and many PAs that absolutely suck.VA care is almost better than nothing. The volunteers work harder than the employee`s.Vets would be better off with getting rid pf the VA and have their needs taken care of by Private Practices.JMHO,Huntz

Or, since a high portion of the all volunteer Services are black, just a representation of the client base, and nothing else.

by choice, or by statute?

Sycamore

I was on USA Jobs a ways back to see if there was anything I might like. They listed an opening for an anesthesiologist at a local VA for a starting salary of $107K, you get what you pay for!

40 hr a week, MD anesthesiologist? Or Nurse Anesthetist? wow! I would hold that diploma under a black light!

Pay is a huge problem. The hospital I work at has not had a permanent night hospitalist in more than 6 years. We have to hire questionable docs on short term contracts. Docs that probably can't work many places. Docs that have a license, and that's about it.

How can this be?! The VA administration was receiving millions in bonuses. Can't that money be used to actually help the vets?

Choice

Same here, even though I rate it with a grater than 50% disability.

Couldn't take him anywhere else?