1 doctor for 18,000 patients.
By on Mar 5th, 2007 at 5:07 pm
1 doctor for 18,000 patients.
Danger Room’s Noah Shachtman writes on the military’s doctor shortage: “There are women who haven’t gotten pap smears in years, who go without mammograms for years.”
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Go Team Terror!
Focus all of your attention on outside the United States. Just keep craving the oil, you greedy ba$tards.
March 5th, 2007 at 5:16 pmGosh, but what about all those SUVs with the “Support the Troops” stickers?
I guess I didn’t read the small print where it says to support them when they are killing indiscriminately but treat them like trash when they are wounded or require medical services.
Welcome to the new Amerika. Smells like Vietnam.
March 5th, 2007 at 5:20 pmSo our government also needs to hire more civilian doctors and pay them competitive rates. Fair enough. The repugs put minimal pay on the board that lead to this problem. Why didn’t they allocate more money so they could hire the doctors they needed? Either way, this problem at least seems like a very simple fix. The Dem leaders of congress should be able to quickly figure out the number of doctors needed and the amount it will cost. Simply add that money to the military hospital budget, problem solved.
March 5th, 2007 at 5:21 pm1/2 Trillion annual DOD budget just doesn’t cover the stupid ‘obligations’ like gear, training, and care. Those bombs are expensive and it costs alot to contract all our services.
March 5th, 2007 at 5:21 pmWith 365 days in a year, and the ability to see 8 patients per day, the doctor, if he worked constantly, could see you once every 6 years…
March 5th, 2007 at 5:21 pmThats about the right size caseload for any non-profit helping professional. Its normal for non-profit helping professionals to be overloaded and underequipped. Nothing new here folks.
March 5th, 2007 at 5:22 pmNext time you’re in Hawaii see about getting on a tour of Tripler or crippler as we liked to call it Army Medical Center and count the number of civilian doctors dentist and nurses.
My last dentist was a civilian. They hire civilians at top wages then young captains and nurses see what the people next to them are making They say f this sh*t and get out. Hell they can make the same money or better and not have to worry about all the Army BS. Then you have no military medicos to fill the Combat Support Hospitals that you need in country and are the most vital link in the chain that is saving so many Soldiers lives.
It’s the same thing that is happening with companies like blackwater and our Special Forces.
March 5th, 2007 at 5:36 pmHow does Roger(2) managed to still believe in quick fixes? I thought it was only naive Democrats who believed in throwing money at a problem. Even far left liberals ( I am one so I can say it ) realize that first get rid of incompetents who never accept responsibility and then add money. Otherwise all our money will go to Haliburton CEOs and none to the problem.
March 5th, 2007 at 5:36 pmWhat Rogerx2 ignores or hope you miss is the 120+ million privtization contract at WR to an ex haliburton stooge. Ah the privitization and soft greed underbelly of the GOP shows its failings.
March 5th, 2007 at 5:51 pm#8 WEll they currently look like they are ridding themselves of the commanders that were in charge. We can only hope they new replacements are better. Congress on the other hand only has 2 functions here. 1st, they identify problems. 2nd, they figure out how much money is needed. Congress doesnt get to pick replacements, that is the militaries position afterall. Why is increasing government never a problem until it comes to our troops with this crowd? Your leaders have spent weeks identifying the militaries money/resource shortfalls but now find it hard to pony up the needed funds. YOu folks seem to not mind this either. I simply don’t understand how the same people begging to double the size of government with UNiversal Healthcare don’t seem to think that adding more money for vet healthcare and troop readiness is a worthy cause.
Honestly, if Vet Healthcare is any indication of what Unversal Health care would look like, I highly doubt any of us would want a piece of it.
March 5th, 2007 at 6:12 pmcouldn’t we sub this “shortage” out to Halliburton?
March 5th, 2007 at 7:30 pmand, anyway, when was the last time bush had a pap smear ….. ;)
Roger_Roger, you actually believe that the money that Congress would allocate to doctors would actually go to get doctors? That is sweet. Unfortunately, the Pentegon spends the money it receives in any way they see fit.
March 5th, 2007 at 7:46 pm#12 While I agree that giving money to the government is like giving a teenage boy car keys and a beer, we still need to get our troops the equipment and resources they so desparetly need. Our Vets need more doctors and better care. The only thing that gets that is $$ sadly. I understand that we may need to double the amount needed to actually get it there as the beuracracy eats most of it but that is government in any program.
March 5th, 2007 at 9:16 pm#13 You still don’t understand. It isn’t about the money. It is about accountability for where that money is going. It is looking hopeful that the Dems are finally doing their jobs (which would be oversight). The current bunch are losing money at an astounding rate and that is not acceptable. That money SHOULD be going for doctors but it isn’t. It is being funneled into the pockets of very rich men.
March 5th, 2007 at 9:20 pmMakes you wonder how much the Repuglicans really support the troops.
March 5th, 2007 at 9:30 pmMakes you wonder what a full out government health care system would look like. Most gvmt employees I’ve had to deal with can’t survive in the private sector. Think about all the programs you’ve had to deal with.
March 5th, 2007 at 10:07 pm#16 Considering the VA was a smashing success until…oh…about 6 years ago…yeah, I wonder what it would look like.
March 5th, 2007 at 10:09 pmComment by JPark — March 5, 2007 @ 10:09 pm
March 5th, 2007 at 10:47 pmI have spent years as a volunteer at both Ft. Snelling in Minnesota and Carl Hayden in Arizona. These problems did NOTstart 6 years ago so you could bash Bush. I’ve been involved since the late 60’s with the Nam vets. Nothing much has changed.
#18 Ok, beefeater, there have always been mold in patients rooms, right? Why haven’t you spoken out?
March 5th, 2007 at 11:04 pm#14 I fully read this article and it never said anything about the money going to the wrong people. It did say they needed more money for doctors however. Please provide proof that the money allocated by congress for Vet Health care is being funneled to “very rich men”. If the Dems have that proof, there certainly will be trials and these “very rich men” are going to jail where they belong! Furthermore, if that is happening and they have proof, I truly hope the Dems will get to the bottom of it and shut it all down. I suspect that this won’t happen however. Do you honestly think the Dems in congress are completely corruption free and don’t ever work for big business?
You need to only look to Pelosi for that answer. In one of her very first bills, she raised minimum wage but withheld minimum wage for American Somoa which was the only American territory not included. The reason? The world’s 2 largest tuna canning companies employ 80% of the island and are both based in San Fransisco. Pelosi on one of her very first bills gave a nice huge corporate handout. This stuff doesn’t phaze me much anymore as congress men and women across the board pull this sh*t all the time.
March 5th, 2007 at 11:52 pmWow, Roger_Roger. These guys were from KBR. How many more graft and corruption stories do you have to hear before it sinks in? No, I have no proof at this early date but if Halliburton execs are involved you know it isn’t going to come up clean. Do you not even care where your tax dollars go? (As long as it isn’t welfare I guess you are ok with it).
March 6th, 2007 at 12:04 am#20 By the way, i will look into the American Samoa charge. That is a whole lot of BS if true.
March 6th, 2007 at 12:05 am@20 Ok, I checked it out.
If American Samoa’s minimum wage is tied to U.S. federal levels, as is being proposed by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the result will “kill” the territory’s economy, says Governor Togiola Tulafono.
American Samoa is currently excluded from a minimum wage measure that is working its way through the U.S. Congress. The bill, which would increase the U.S. minimum wage from its current $5.15 an hour to $7.25 over two years, for the first time includes the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands under federal minimum wage provisions. The CNMI’s minimum wage is $3.05 an hour.
Nonetheless Pelosi is trying to tie their minimum wage to federal levels.
March 6th, 2007 at 12:10 amHey we need more troops! Not more doctors!
We bomb, we don’t cure or heal!
Says Dick and the Bush. I guess.
March 6th, 2007 at 6:37 amPelosi at her finest just for JPark:
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20070112-120720-2734r.htm
And you can certainly try and buy that cover story in your head all you want but I garuntee American Somoa residence don’t agree. You honestly believe the Governors story? This is an island that is ruled by 2 Tuna canning plants that are based out of San Fransisco. This island was the ONLY US territory to not get the wage increase. If you can’t add up that Pelosi and this Governor are looking out for their corporate buddies, you need to think twice. I certainly believe that Repugs are truly evil and work with corporations, but you better believe I realize that the Dems do the very same thing. It floors me that you honestly believe one side of the isle is pure evil and the other side smells like Roses.
If that was true, America would have an easy pick. Do I have to jog your memory about the Payoof money in the freezer of your other Dem congressmen? Pelosi did a favor to a huge campaign donor. Oh well, Politicians are evil, but you wish for the best and I hope Pelosi will look towards the people’s needs “most” the time.
March 6th, 2007 at 9:30 amEXCUSES…EXCUSES….LET’S HAVE SOME SOLUTIONS, NOT BITCHING AND MOANING AND EXCUSES AND SHIFTING THE BLAME AROUND–WORK TO GET MORE DOCTORS IN THERE, WITH BETTER SANITARY CONDITIONS AND INCENTIVES FOR THEM TO WORK PROPERLY, LIKE A BETTER WAGE, DIVERTED AWAY FROM THE FIASCO in Iraq AND AWAY FROM THE OVERFLOWING POCKETS OF Bushland Uber Allies, The Military Industrial Complex, Big Oil/Big Business, CHIMPya/Cheney and THEIR CRONIES, ET CETERA AD NAUSEUM!!!!!
March 6th, 2007 at 3:17 pmLos Angeles Dentist Offers Advice on Selecting the Appropriate Colors for Porcelain Veneers
July 29, 2007LOS ANGELES, BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA Patients interested in porcelain veneers often wonder how white the veneers should be.
March 20th, 2008 at 1:32 pm