how much did it cost everybody here? it cost everybody here a shot in my arm of $3,000. for a radioactive iodine. what happened with that shot? on the note for me to get that shot, it was informed that i am claustrophobic and i cannot lay down for half hour, 45 minutes motionless on a table, i need a sedative. guess what, nobody signed the freakin' thing. where do you think that $3,000 shot went? right down the freakin' toilet. and where am i? right down that damn toilet with it because i'm no closer to getting my claim satisfied. i want to have, if it's possible, to get a referral out of this situation, to mayo clinic. i'm tired of bouncing around between here and barrow. i'm not saying barrow is not good or it's not get here, but this is getting crazy. i'm two years on this thing here

now. it's not as long as some people, but it's getting old. thank you. >> thank you. [ applause ] are we able to get his information so we can -- we'll get back to you, sir. >> hello, sir. i want to thank you for coming tonight. the best way to solve a problem is face-to-face with the veterans. i come here tonight to stop one of the policies that are causing veterans to commit suicide and killing veterans. when veterans are in an abusive situation with a pac team, it doesn't matter if it's a pac team leader abusing the patients, it doesn't matter if the nurses are abusing the patients, or the doctor is abusing the patients. any of those three can cause the patients hell. requiring a veteran to wait 90 days before he can switch to another provider, and you assign them another provider, for a whole year, which means they're going to get an abuser greater

than the one they left and they're going to be stuck for a whole year with that abuser. this policy memo ac-02 thought up by sharon hellman, we all know her, i think, the bonus queen, but the whole thing is, i know a lot of veterans, and they're all suffering, because they've been falling through loops and stuff like that. i know a veteran that's got a brain tumor. they had him doing everything other than getting an mri for two years. i think the last time they had him in a different class to get the mri. now he have a brain tumor that they can't treat and now he's losing his eyesight and his hearing. they're making veterans wait 90 days to get switched from abusive doctors is not right. and this is why veterans are committing suicide, because

they're stuck in abusive situations here. don't get me wrong, there's a lot of good doctors and nurses here, but the abusers are teflon abusers because they have nothing to fear from the people in the ved raterans administrat because they cover up all these situations. i know the fbi is looking into this, and they're covering it up, because they tried to stop these deaths at the va. i know what i'm talking about, because i fought corruption in the united states government and i beat the united states government in the supreme court. i know the cover-ups going down. they're deleting my information. i can't get my information. they've stolen a number of my files. this is going on. so i don't know if you, the fbi, cia, nsa, i could care less, you have to stop this nonsense. let me say something about the

patients' advocates. they're overworked and understaffed. >> they're affirmative action points. >> they do the same job month after month after month. they send all the complaints up to the director, which the director ignores, so the patient advocates have to do the same job month after month after month. and for some reason, they don't want to change that situation, or do anything about it. and so we suffer, and continue to suffer. if you can do something about this policy, and allow veterans to change their abusive providers instead of being stuck with a provider for 90 days, with no medication, which kills veterans, and allows them to commit suicide because they see no way out. and also, just try 90 days without your medication and see if the veterans die from that. >> is that the actual policy? >> yes. >> can i see it? >> i've got a copy for

everybody. i'll give it to you -- >> when we're done. >> thank you. is the inspector general here tonight? >> no. >> yeah, well, let me tell you something. let me just make one last comment. the inspector general said there's no veterans dying from delays or not getting your medication, or from the misdiagnosed, or late diagnosed, or whatever diagnosed, but it seems very strange to me that the media, the propaganda parrots, say that the whistleblowers are wrong. the whistleblowers are not wrong. in fact, they underestimate the number of deaths of people. [ cheers and applause ] >> we just want a fair deal. we served our country. that's all we want. not to be served by a tough line of abusers who have no worries about losing their jobs no matter what type of abuse they

do to the patients. and this is a setup. like i said, you might have the best doctor in the world, but you've got an abusive pac team, you're still -- it's 180 degrees of changed story. then they send you down to the mental health department because they think you're crazy. [ cheers and applause ] let me say this. [ inaudible ]. >> you said it better than i did. now, the situation is, we can't keep on doing this. it's just got to stop. that's why the veterans are so frustrated here tonight. they come here and tell you, and nothing happens. i suggest you take a patient advocate's office, double it, and then triple it, and then

quadruple the patient advocate's office. they don't have a chance. if you could pass that information to the inspector general, tell them the veterans -- i think i speak for a lot of people here -- the inspector general's got his head so far up his butt he's looking at the world through -- >> thank you. >> thank you. [ cheers and applause ] >> well, i see that despite the scandal, that we haven't lost our sense of humor that we got in the military. i don't dispute that at all. is there a miss karen craig here? karen craig here? is she here? no? okay. on thursday, september 4th,

2014, at 10:46 a.m., a message was sent from miss craig on your behalf, mr. costie, to vhapho exchange users. >> it's all employee e-mail. >> well, there's a subject of this e-mail that was sent out on your behalf, called message from the interim director. more of the rest of the story. washington published overblown claims of deaths and waiting times at the va. sent on behalf of mr. costie. the "washington post" wrote an article, fact checked and proven incorrect by the house va committee, that proceeds to bash members of congress that basically came out and brought to light this scandal at this facility.

and it includes our own reps, my former employer, representative david schwiker, and matt sack mon, and along with both republicans and democrats. it was a bipartisan affair. and this gentleman procedures to basically say it was all overblown, blah blah blah blah blah, fortunately the house va committee and the fine representatives they have on that pretty much demolished that yesterday in their hearing. >> that's washington for you. >> exactly. about a week ago, or not -- yeah, about a week ago today, there was an incident where there was an e-mail sent from this facility and was leaked to the press, with private patient information on a veteran that committed suicide who had used this facility for patients. it was very clear the intent of that was to undermine a representative that was running a political ad that was not favorable to the phoenix va. you have the ig report.

that dr. sam ford with the one statement in there, and then you have other statements from not only, you know, other va facilities that would seem to indicate that many within the va think that this scandal was overblown. you know, based on that e-mail that was signed on your behalf, do you think that our congressional reps who have representatives here, do you think they got out in front of the media and overblown this scandal? do you think that they misled, and why? because it would seem from this e-mail that you are implying that. do you believe that? >> no, i believe the ig report found the really important issues and channeled just for the phoenix va and we're working on fixing them and moving forward. >> why are the staff members trying to undermine our congressional representatives? just so you all know, there is now another investigation of this fine facility of a hipaa violation.

so why are there staff members here trying to undermine our congressional representatives? >> to save their job. >> won't answer it? i might as well talk to the wall. have a nice evening. [ applause ] >> yes, sir? how are you doing? my name is william quail. i'm a vietnam vet. and what this is all about is the disrespect of people. last month they canceled that thing and didn't tell anybody. i drove 55 miles. and i was so mad i'm glad i didn't know where you lived. because the whole thing is, you get the frustration so far into people, that's why we kill ourselves because we don't know who the hell to kill. and this whole facility, like i say, is -- this young lady over here that's with the -- you, ma'am, yes. >> the benefits -- >> the benefits part of the va.

they don't help you. you turn in a thing. you turn in a thing and if it's wrong, they don't say, oh, send it back, you've got to submit this. they wait the 425 days, they've got 440, and then you get a thing, insufficient evidence. and if you don't find somebody that knows to tell you, you reenter, and you sit there forever. and i mean, that's the whole bureaucracy. if you get a paper on your desk and you say, you need this and this, and if it's not there, why wait two years? and that's all they do. if you want us dead, tell us. have a big beer party and we'll blow our freakin' brains out. it's disrespectful. the whole dang place -- we're taught to make ourselves hard. we make ourselves hard, and then when you walk in the va and you go -- you get your post-traumatic stress interview, and they go, do you ever think about kill yourselves?

yeah, from time to time. when i go out, i'll go. did you make a plan? no. so he changed the subject. instead of saying, did you see anybody for mental health? the whole thing is, they just want to keep their job, and as long as they have us, that's their job. and this facility, when you gentlemen, girls and ladies, walk in here, when you walk into this place, we all feel at home, because we thought we're walking onto a military base. but you're military veterans, but you're in a bureaucracy. and i mean, it's just -- you know, if we don't save this thing now, when we still got a lot of veterans, god help the young kids when they come back. because they're going to have a lot of tours of duty but not a lot of people. and the politicians are going to do, you can't do crap for me, son. god bless america. [ cheers and applause ]

>> my name is howard weiss. and i'm a korean veteran. and i had four combat missions over in that hell hole. and the reason that i'm here is, i just do not understand how they work benefits in this va. now, i tried to help an awful lot of people to get benefits and i have an afro-american gentlemen, he's in the hospital right now. the guy was in korea. he goes to get his benefits and they tell him, we need this, we need that. you know what, you can't go back 65 years. the got got frostbittens, everything done to him. and i know i'm here and i made a move to come, he can't come down here and he's not able to come down here. his name is will robinson. i'm upset the va has to take this long. i found out that the va here doesn't do anything. i'd rather go to the dav, at least they do something over there for you. but they don't do it here. that's it. i got a better reaction down

there within two months than i did here in six months. the only thing i will say is i had cancer surgery, and it ran $18,000, and they didn't keep me, but i had to wait long enough until i finally got it done. i don't have a whole lot to complain about, there's people here that have more than me. i've been waiting two years to get disability for a lousy 10%. i don't know if you guys have ever been on a carrier or not, and i'm telling you what, i came back here and told the doctor here, my hearing is really, really getting kind of bad. he says, well, let me give you a hearing test. he gives me the hearing test. he said, you hear fine. i said, whoa, wait a minute. have you ever been on a carrier? have you ever been in a catapult crew and a jet takes off? it will blow your ears out. so don't tell me what i'm doing with my ears. he said, i'm sorry, we'll give you a hearing aid. i said, i don't need a damn hearing aid, i need compensation for what i did. i finally fought it, and fought

it, and finally ended up with 90%. and i want that 10%. i'm unemployable now. if you think you can get a job at 82, forget it. i'm finished. thank you. >> thank you. [ applause ] >> good evening. my name is ken cleker, united states army. i don't know if the country, or the media for that matter is aware that every year millions of veteran men and women are denied health care because their income exceeds the threshold. can you tell me what is done to ensure the millions of veterans and priority groups, 7 and 8, receive the health care they were promised when they swore to defend their country? >> yes. i know that the priority groups, 6, 7 and 8, the ability for us to treat those groups is really based on congressional laws that are passed. you know, the president signs

them and then we implement them. i don't know if there's anything going on right now for the veterans that are in those higher income brackets to try to bring more care to them. i can try to find out. >> yeah, that would be great. >> i don't know if there's anything happening right now. i know there is that income limit for some veterans. >> higher income is $30,000. >> $37,000, combined income in phoenix. if you make more than $37,000, you don't qualify. what you were promised. >> there was no limit when you joined. >> exactly. >> they didn't say you had to make $37,000. >> yeah. so you'll -- >> i need to get some follow-up. i really don't know what they're doing about that right now. >> thank you. >> my name is ted hall. i appreciate having this meeting

here with everyone that's in this room. first of all, i want to say that i've been to other meetings and i keep hearing the same thing, the suffering around the pain. and as long as all these vets are having these issues, we're going to keep complaining. when we joined our military branch of the service, we took an oath. to take care of this country. and this is all that we want is a va to take care of us. that's not asking a whole lot. [ applause ] the other issue is this. listen to this. when all of you go home today, look up bonus in your dictionaries. look it up. it's a government award to a veteran. hey, that's us. what on earth are they giving bonuses to people who are not

taking care of us? if they can't provide a service, they shouldn't be getting a bonus. for what? and the people above them that are covering for them, there's too many pinocchios out there covering each other. you can't hide the truth, you know? you can have these meetings and you can keep hearing the same thing. as long as they're getting these bonuses, look at us. just look at us. look it up in the dictionary see what it tells you. thanks. >> thank you, sir. [ applause ] >> good evening. my name is bob gansel. i was in the united states navy on an aircraft carrier. i was a third class petty officer. i've been coming to the va medical center for 33 years. in the 80s, things were slow, but you still got care, but it took a while. all that changed when this new wing was built onto the old

building and the parking lot was vastly enlarged. then the staff had the room, the tools and the resources to be organized, and enough to deliver the outstanding care we all veterans enjoy today. when i had to go to a different emergency room, they helped me financially. when i got valley fever, a team of specialists put me in an mri machine and they came back and said that i had -- they told me i had lung tumors, but they told me i merely had damage to my lungs for valley fever. when i broke bones they were there for me, when i was in terrible pain they were here for me. when i was suicidal, they gave me mental health, and medications. the times i came here dying, they saved my life. very often over the years, i've se seen -- all i want to say is, if

you walk the halls of this hospital, watch and talk to the workers, doctors, and administration here, nowhere else will you find a more positive, caring, and truly, truly dedicated team of caregivers. perhaps nowhere else in this country. i just had to come up here today and tell the truth about this. and i have. [ applause ] >> thank you, sir. >> all of what i've heard people say, over the period of time that i attended the va, both here, tucson, anthem satellite clinic, prescott, it's been nothing but a nightmare. okay? let me explain. p let me write a book and then let me read it, because i've seen laws broken, little children wanting to pierce my finger to do my blood sugar

here. that's why i quit coming here. tucson, as a diabetic, didn't turn me away, but wouldn't give me test strips because the head doctor down there in tucson wanted to put me on pills. i almost died of a brain tumor. misdiagnosed me. almost died. only thing that helped me is going to outside doctors, and having to pay for it myself. you have one of the best doctors in the planet here, dr. roger wilcox, was a thoracic heart surgeon. he saved my life. because of what happened in vietnam that i never got anything for. i'm a vietnam veteran, marine corps, '65-'69 in vietnam. the last 6th of september i almost died, simply because of the care that the va was not giving me.

what happened was dr. wilcox, in a private practice, i get every once in a while a little -- i'm 100% service connected plus 60% for agent orange. i get different polyps popping ul all over my body. another police detective in the army, go to the church at the same place, he asked me this one time, do you ever have these things that look like a boil and it comes out looking like a little sausage thing? i said, yeah, i had one that came out of the marine corps, grew in my dmonose. i thought i was going to die. he said, i have those, too. that's about the same time that they started -- when you lose weight, these dostart coming ou of your cells. i had one on my lelg. i thought, i'm not going to the va, because if i go there, i'll bleed to death. i was riding my motorcycle, and

every side of my bike with a little sausage thing looking out of my leg. i had them in different places. they have to be surgically removed. i had another one on my leg so i figured, got to take this stuff to the dump in the city where i live, then i'm going to go to this john c. lincoln emergency. and had them look at it. when i got there, i told him what it was. of course, most people don't know about this kind of thing. so he said, let me take a blood test. he took a blood test and said, man, here's what you're going to have to do. i said, what? he was upset. i started getting upset because he was upset. he says, you're going to have to go to the hospital now. i said, i'm in a hospital. no, this is emergency. choose deer valley or sunny slope. i said, yeah, what's the matter? he said your kidneys have shut down. my kidneys have shut down. okay. it all started when you're a

diabetic and you have infection, your diabetes, your blood sugar don't balance, for four, almost five years, prescott va kept side stepping this whole issue until i became antibiotic resistant, which means i have two things in me right now, dive beets -- i hope you're taping this -- i almost died because, like this one gentleman was talking about going from one team to another, 90 days, the first one wasn't doing anything, so i went to another one. when i found 95 days later when i talked to her, she said she don't do protocols. that's not what they were doing. a simple urinary tract infection is going to cost me my life with diabetes. that's what happened with this situation in the hospital. then i found out for diabetes, and heart medication, or the blood pressure medication, i forget -- anyway, according to

the book, and they also -- they gave me the information for me to see what they were. so i've got it written down. are the worst things to give a person with kidney problems. so it all started from a simple urinary tract infection, they wanted to emphasize, it's your diabetes we've got to take care of. and you've got to -- and once we do that, then we've got to get your weight off. i've already lost almost 140 pounds. you know, i've lost all my muscle mass. i can't hardly walk. that's what i'm doing here. my buddies had to push me in here. i go to a bike show in west world, and i have to find a way to get there. get security to take me over. i can't walk. i can't do squat. i'm luckier than most guys. i do get that. that's what i can fall on. right now i'm using my medicare. but i've got to pay for my own medication. my question is, instead of talking on deaf ears, i understand that i can get outside care that the va will

pay for. because i refuse -- this is the last time i'll ever be in a va, because i've been doing this since 1972, and all they've done is screw me up and almost cost me me life two times. i want to know, without me just saying this, i want somebody to get ahold of me and tell me, i've already gotten ahold of that patient advocate, liz, she hasn't got back to me, i think that's her name, and to be able to talk to me and tell me, is this possible, or what do i have to do? do i have to sell my house, finish up my will, and kiss my own butt good-bye? what do i got to do? >> give us your name, we'll call you and give you some information. >> anytime that's ever happened, i've been lied to. every time. every time. this thing about waiting between -- that's what stuck me in the hospital. i've been waiting. i told her, no, i'm not -- the biggest problem in this hospital, they don't -- and this

goes from the clerk to medical -- they do not do ama protocols. period. that's the biggest problem. you would think down in tucson, you've got the head of the university down there, that runs all the stuff that he does there, working with the va, wouldn't take me off my test strips. i just got a thing there that says test your blood. i walked in there with my blood sugar 600 on an easter morning, 7:30 in the morning, because i refused to come here. thought they could help me. and i walked out with my blood sugar still 600. and the clerk in between -- i don't know why they had me out in the waiting room walking around in the emergency room. my wife was with me, she's a witness to it. she was really bored. so was i. then the clerk was there, made -- when you're 100%, your wife gets champ va, okay? they twisted that around where i'm the dependent and she's the veteran. then lost my records. then i couldn't do nothing.

i walk out with 600. i should have been dead. i had to go to a civilian hospital to stay alive. i want to see if i can get outside help and let the va pay for it. >> is this your contact information? we'll give you some information. i don't know if you think it's lying, but we'll give you information -- >> i'll have to keep paying for my own medication or this will kill me. my life is in your hands. the only way you're going to kill me is not doing anything for me. but i've got another belief system, too, i'm not going to die until god wants me. >> right. absolutely. >> there's nothing you can do to kill me, until it's my turn. [ applause ] >> thank you. >> get us your contact information. we'll try to get you some information. yes, sir? >> my name is matt. i was a combat medic in afghanistan with the 101st. i was in the army from 2008 until super late 2012. it took me two years after i got

out to get an appointment. i'm just curious, the general reason the whole va is in trouble because you had these secret waiting lists. am i relatively correct? >> right. >> and that's because we were putting people on the secret waiting lists because there was too many people, not enough providers? relatively correct? somewhat like that? >> yeah. >> so i finally came in here june of this year, i got seen for three minutes by a doctor who didn't ask me any single question about any service related disability that i got put out for. i got a letter in the mail saying my disability was cut in half. didn't ask me about my mental health issues. they spent me three minutes telling me i was disrespectful, not as disrespectful as killing veterans, mind you, but sent me away. my wife left me and i couldn't get a job for the longest time. tell them that made them think my issues are all better. so they scheduled me for a

primary care provider appointment, whatever you want to call it, like late august. i get a phone call saying it's canceled. they scheduled me in september. i get another postcard saying it's canceled. i get another one in october. then i get a postcard it's canceled. i can't get a single human on the phone. i can get an operator who i'm sure has been cussed out more than any person on this planet because she's the only contact that's a human. i thought, screw it, i'll go into a clinic. told them i've had four canceled appointments because i just want to talk to someone. after walking in, they tell me, yeah, go ahead and talk to this guy over here, who spent an hour answering phones. don't you think it's a little ironic that the reason i had to go to a clinic to talk to somebody because i couldn't get anyone on the phone? then i had to wait an hour for a guy to stop answering the phone? i couldn't get his number. they wouldn't even give me his phone number. i get an appointment. i sit down to talk to one of the

advocate people, and they tell me that i canceled all my appointments. i've canceled five appointments, and here i am? what i'm curious, so you guys got in trouble because you're canceling -- or even making appointments or putting people on bogus lists, but now you're just being open about it and doing the same damn thing. making patients cancel appointments themselves. i wasn't going to leave unless i was in handcuffs or had an appointment slip, that was my plan. they say, well, late december work? no, it won't work. they get me in the very next day. like there's no rhythm here. i finally got to talk to a doctor who couldn't -- couldn't even speak english. i don't have anything against immigration, but i couldn't understand her. i was enlisted. she was telling me stuff like supplements that are proven, scientifically, accepted by all medical -- every medical society in the world, is healthy.

she's telling me it will rot my kidneys. she didn't know the first thing about medicine and i've got to put my life in her hands? these people go to clown college and get a medical degree and then come work for you guys. it's absolutely insane. thank you. thank you. [ applause ] >> my name is braen da lawlor. i served my country very proudly as a firefighter/emt in the united states air force. [ applause ] it seems we have a problem with this va in prescott. i was at the prescott va auxiliary. i was kicked out of there for not being suited for the place. not even a week later, i was brutally raped and beaten. i was the third veteran he did

this to. unacceptable, i would think. unacceptable. i was sent down here. unacceptable. for being gay? i got the air force commendation medal in korea. they sent me to korea after my 17-year-old brother was killed in sedona, arizona, my hometown. take this. [ applause ] >> my name is martin ridgeway. man, i just don't even know where to begin. it's been a comedy of errors for quite a while. but i'll just start with my most recent interactions with the va, because this is all since the

new va. since all this came to light, and we ain't screwing with people no more. sunday night, i'm feeling pretty down. so i call the crisis line. and a guy talks to me, a nice guy and everything. and he talked me off the ledge and said, okay, somebody from the phoenix va is going to contact you tomorrow. thank you, sir. and i hang up the phone and i wait all day. all day. at 2:30, i started calling, 2:00, 2:30, i started calling the jay clinic, because nobody's gotten back to me. and it's busy, busy, busy, until 3:30, and then it rings until it goes to a busy signal, which means nobody's picking it up, we're just cutting you off, screw you, go away. i call the crisis line back. by then i'm a little upset. i call the crisis line. puts me on hold. yes, i am that guy. 11 minutes. i was ready to hang up.

when someone finally answered. they -- he rushed me off the phone. this has happened several times when i've called there. okay, good, we've got other people. have a good day. so the next day, finally somebody started calling. and i get some social workers that call me. that's great. i appreciate it. but you know what, if i'm a social worker, i think that when one of my clients, one of my patients, one of my veterans comes to me and says, i need your help, this is what i have going on, and i say, okay, first of all, i wouldn't say, okay, here, try to reach out to these people. because that's bull -- but if i hand you a list and say, try to reach out to these people, i'm going to know what's on that list.

i'm going to know who those people are. and i'm going to know if they can even help you. trust and believe when you've got somebody like me, a cold war veter veteran, i've still got ptsd. 70%. for all the rest of you guys, yes, four-plus years, we're still playing the game. and i'm sitting here and i'm reaching out and saying, hey, i need help and you say, okay, here, call these. when you start going down the list, it's like, i would try these three first, because they're the best ones. okay, great. i start going down the list. every one of them is, oif, can't help you, sucker. oh, sorry, we only do vietnam veterans. or, you don't have children. or, you know what, after about four of those, i'm in tears. i'm not ready to call anybody else. anybody.

okay? [ applause ] so then i sit here and i even -- i went as far to tell everybody, quite frankly, if you go on facebook and you go to the veterans affairs page, and you search my name, martin ridgeway, you'll see the post where i put on there, and i want everybody to know that if and when that time comes, and i commit suicide, it's his fault, and his fault, and this hospital's fault, and jeff flake and john mccain and kirsten simena, and that -- whatever that other guy's name is. anyway, everybody that i have reached out to, and all the standdowns, and all these town hall meetings, and everything else, they have all either just

blew me off, or passed me on to the next person. even when i went back, because dear kirsten has her little deal about the va and how she wants to help people, and let's not commit suicide. i sent her a message, personal message, hey, look, here's the deal, man, i have problems. do you think anybody got back to me? no, they did not. and this isn't -- this is about the whole deal. i understand this is -- it isn't necessarily the va. but those people are here, too, and they can hear me. and i want them to. because when this happens, i've already told my family, i've already started clearing my roster, making my -- you know, getting my affairs in order, so to speak, because when i called them, during that time, i said, i need to speak to a privacy

officer because there's things in my record that, you know, for one thing, they're illegal. according to arizona law. and, you know, for another thing, i just want to get it cleared up. i don't want everybody having access to all my stuff and whatnot. guess what, that hasn't happened. called and left messages with patient advocates. i walked in and was lucky enough to get to see one. but that kind of led to nowhere. as a matter of fact, i believe she as well sent a message to the privacy officers, and yeah, never heard nothing back from them. so that was on sunday, my initial call, saying i'm in trouble. >> this past sunday? >> no, no, this is about a month ago. >> okay. >> this is like three weeks, three, four weeks ago.

>> okay. >> that was a sunday night. on friday afternoon, someone from jo called me and said we would like to schedule an appointment for you to see the nurse next week. really? a week? and your doctor, five weeks from now. oh, okay. let's do that. you know? what do you say to that? so the beauty of that is, i get to go to court, and my judge tells me, you're going to come back on this day and see me. this is the exact same date and same time i had with my doctor. i called jade opal the other day and said, i can't make that appointment. well, wait another month. pushed me out. and, you know, it's really sad. now, granted, when the -- well, i posted several, but the one post i made on the va site, someone from the crisis line

actually did call me back. just check to make sure i was okay. and honestly, that's about as far as it goes. everything that we get is pure lip service. and everyone says, hey, we're going to help you. and everywhere i go, all these websites, all the va websites, millions and millions of dollars, just wasted. because you know what? when i go on there, they go, okay, well, try this one and that one and something else agency. then you go to those agencies, and then you're told, like, well, we don't have any money, come back and see us in a couple of months. after the new year. well, that's unacceptable. rapid rehousing for homeless veterans? call back in a couple of months? after the fiscal year? when we have some money? that's unacceptable. >> right.

>> there's a lack of legitimate services here at the va. that's the biggest problem that i have. and you know what, i'm a diabetic, too. i've had problems since i became a diabetic, controlling my sugar. but you know what, there's a nurse out at the northwest clinic who calls me fairly regularly and follows up. and you know what, this is the first one that's ever done that. when i go to the diabetic clinic, they're saying, you're noncompliant, get out. because you know what, i've got stuff wrong with my head. i can't always follow their instructions and i tend to forget things. things tend to slide under the carpet now and then. she calls and reminds me, keeps me on track. and now my blood sugar is in more control than it's ever been. why? because one person cared. but that's the problem. how many have i dealt with in

the last month? and i got one person that's standing up and going, hey, i'm here for you. i will help you. i will call you. and does. because that's the other thing. i come to these stand-downs and town halls and everything, and everybody says, hey, we're going to help you, we're going to do this, we're going to do that, we're going to do something else, and i come to the next one, and the same people, or the same organizations or whatever, say, hey, we're going to help you out and we're going to follow up up and we're going to do this and that. and what do they do? nothing. you never hear from them again. groundhog day, exactly. the wait times are ridiculous. i mean, i call my psychiatrist -- they call me, because i'm in crisis, and they want five weeks. i call them back and say, hey, look, man, i can't make my appointment in a couple of weeks. they say, well, the next one is

four weeks after that, a month after that. that's not -- that's not a recipe for success. you know, at one point in time i -- i didn't feel i was being treated appropriately for my situation. and the doctor that i had was not an expert. he said so. himself. so i says, okay, next. and they give me another doctor. and i go, do you know about this, are you an expert? well, you know, i've treated some people with that. well, that ain't good enough. because i already know way more than you do. and if i know more than you do about my illness, that's a problem. if you're a doctor. if you're getting paid to treat me and i know more than you do,

that's an issue. i had a pharmacist in the jade opal clinic get angry with me, tell me i was doctor shopping and medication-seeking behavior. i said, you know what, if you had a heart disease, and you came into my office and i'm a doctor and i tell you, it's because you're fat, you did it to yourself and i'm not giving you no medication for your high blood pressure or whatever, wouldn't you be doctor shopping and medication seeking behavior? she tells me, well, look, we're going to put you on sertear. i said, you can't, i've been on it before, and it makes me suicidal. so she says, it does not cause, you know, suicide. it doesn't cause depression. gets in this big argument with me. so i go out, and quite frankly, she's calling security. my psychiatrist, bless her heart, she's a sweetheart,

sweeps me into her office to calm down and chill out and whatnot. which i did. and then i go home and i print out everything i can find about that thick. and the first place i went was strateric.com. at the very top of the page, everybody's got a smartphone, so you can punch it up and see i'm not lying, but at the very top of the page is a big black box, guess what that is, fda, black box warning, strateric is known to call suicidal thoughts and ideation in adolescents. no, it doesn't cause depression. really? we're back to -- where did we get these people? where do we get these people? that person should not be in charge of any care. especially mental health issues. she doesn't even know mental health drugs and what their side effects and whatnot is. that's just wrong.

and you know what, i was the bad guy. i was the bad guy in that. you know? when we call to get some help, you can't get any help. patient advocates, they listen, but that's as far as it ever has went. so, you know, it's just a very sad, sad state of affairs. and, you know, i really want to know what you guys are going to do about it. and one of the issues i do have, and this is -- you know, i understand you're not the claims department. however, it's still veterans affairs administration. and you know what, if there's nothing you can't do about it, i'm sure that your boss can, or his boss or somebody. that's what i would be doing is climbing the ladder going, why are we just screwing with these people? trust and believe -- i believe

in my heart that it costs the va as much or more every month to keep me from my unemployability benefits than it does just to pay them. they're going to pay them in the end. but everybody says, don't worry, you've only got a couple more years to wait. oh, wait, that was straight from the bva travel board p july -- yeah, july 23rd. and when i asked her when i could expect my decision, she said, oh, you have -- you're lucky you saw us this soon. oh, cool. i'm lucky. no, no, no. you have a real young claim. all the rest of the claims we're working on, the rest of the appeals are four years old. your appeal is only two years old. so you will probably get my decision in a year or two. what? i'm sitting across from you.

you should be able to tell me right now. you have my file. you've said so. you have no questions of me. you just said so. you should be able to look me in the eye and tell me yes, no, or you know what,what, i'm going t send it back for further review. right then. right now. now in a year or two. what is that. >>. >> and that's my point. these are people speaking from experience. i mean,it's not, you know, it's not like we make this stuff up. that's the other part. it's not like we make stuff up. but, then, on the same token, when we do call and say hey, we need help, they go, oh, well, you talked to a social worker back here. that had doesn't mean i got help. that means i talked to somebody. and then they use the claim -- oh, you got some ketamine

treatments in town. yeah, i did. but i couldn't afford to keep them. did they help me? hell yeah, they did, but you know what? i can't afford the $250 a month to continue to get my treatments. but, at the same time, you're going to twist that? and use that against me? we have our doctors and our psychologists and whatnot. and you know what, i can show you in my medical record. they're stating things in such a way that they can't help us. there's a two or two a week maybe i could. . i just don't know when those are. that's the problem. you, as an employer, if you hired me and i'm too depressed

to get up out of bed and can't come to work, i can't leave my house for a week. usually, i don't call anybody for the first three, four, five days because i'm so depressed. so when you do call, sorry, i've been sick. i'm hoping next week is good. you're going to say thank you, have a good day. and that's the problem that i have. it's not that i said -- like i said, it's not that i can't find a job. it's real hard. with untreated p.t.s.d., that led to alcohol and drug abuse, it led to prison, it led to all of that [expletive]. and, now, i'm sitting here going, hey, i ain't trying to go back there. i'm not trying to do that. but every time i turn around, this stuff is used -- everything and anything is used against me. oh, well, you know, you say you're feeling better, well, yeah, today. you know? and that's the other issue. when they talk to us, they don't

take into consideration, well, gee, i missed 30% of my appointments. which, hey, it's a fact. go punch it up, look it up. i did. they said well you're always on time, you don't miss any of your apointments, blah, blah, blah when they denied my claim. so now i go up and say hey, can you punch up my appointments for the last four years? >> hmm, i'm not -- well, i kind of am, but i'm not a math genius, but that looks like about 30% misses to me. why? because i can't make it. it ain't because i don't want to. it ain't because i got so much other stuff going on out there, because i don't. thank you. >> thank you. [ applause ] >> we have two of our brothers that couldn't make it here tonight. one of them is burying his 47-year-old son. afghanistan and iraqi vet.

the v.a. had him on morphine, a high dose and then thought it smart to take him off and he died of a heart attack. i don't trust the v.a. that combat med right there, i would rather him take care of me than the v.a. you guys have tried to kill me over and over and over and i'm not going away. and i'm not like some of these old-timers here. i've got a long battle with you guys. >> hello. i am a disabled veter ran. i am a retired federal air marshal, former green beret, army major, naval gunner else mate and police detective. i am founder of a veteran's nonprofit, war, warriors in recovery. i am a huge veteran's advocate and i understand that the fight is not over once we get home. it has just begun. a year ago today, i was homeless with half a tank of gas and $35 in my pocket. i have been kicked out of my

house by the gilbert police department on an order of protection filled with lies from a woman i was not legally married to who wasn't a resident of arizona. i recall lostz everything i had worked for in my life in the blink of an eye. i left with nothing but the clothes on my back. i lived in the desert until i received a phone call from my mother. i was flown to south carolina where i started gathering evidence. i found evidence that was proved that i was married to a bigamist and a criminal who had been charged with criminal domestic violence and had been involuntarily committed to a mental institution by her parents at the age of 16. my father and i brought back all of this evidence to present it to my lawyers and the gilbert police department. the police department said they could not get involved because it was a civil institute. she was selling my guns and my savings. it didn't make sense that the police would leave her in possession of firearms when she cannot legally possess one. i was told by my lawyers that they could not do anything because it was a criminal offense.

imreached out to congressman's offices, police officials, local officials, nonprofits, veteran's nonprofits. s.o.s. i was crying. no one would come. nobody. evidence went missing from one court to the other. my second and fourth amendment rights were violated. my lawyers were telling me that they could not be constitutional lawyers, at which i thought every lawyer was a constitutional lawyer. congressman and state senators with your not willing to get involved. this woman was breaking the order of protection by stalking me and one time showing up at my new residence with a police escort. i reached out for legal and financial assistance. it was just a vicious circle of one nonprofit giving me resources to another resources to another nonprofit. just a vicious circle. so i just gave up. i came to the v.a. phoenix during this time period and was told it was going to take six

months for a therapy apointment and they could give me nothing for the depression or the anxiety for this period. that's funny, they filled me with pills for a long time until i needed them. the court system drained me mentally, physically and financially. i gave uprights to my son because i did not have the money or the resources to fight this krupt system. i could not believe that everything i fought for was being taken away. i went to see my primary care doctor at the v.a. because i had concern of a skin growth growing on my arm. this foreign doctor, who knew nothing about medicine, i knew far more than she did, never called me back for a follow up. during this time, i met a number of veterans who were able to help me out. one of these is my mentor, who has became a dear friend. he looked at the spot on my arm and said oh, it's cancer. i researched it through the gulf war web site and discovered that the immunizations that were given us caused cancer.

of course, note, the v.a. had him listed three times dead. but here he stands tonight as a survivor. veterans once stood up for this great nation. and it's time to stand up again. enforce these officials to do the right thing. if i leave here tonight and i run a stop sign, there's a good chance, a really good chance, i'm going to get a speeding ticket. then why do we let our leaders disobey the law? one of these such laws is house bill 2020. as it says here in house bill 2020, the honorable flag shall be displayed on or in front of locations and the united states flag is flown at half staff for a death of the member of the m armed forces. the state capital building. the building that serves as a local and superior court in the county. the building that the city of

town hall of each incoroneted city or town, notwithstanding any other law when displayed with a united states flag on a single staff, the honorary member flag shall be displayed below the p.o.w. flag. i bet half of us don't know what that flag is? it's the flag for the fallen. and our congressman, our senators, our mayors, nobody is following their law, house bill 2020. i have proof and documentation of e-mails that everything i've said here to be true. the last time i came to a town hall rally back with two other veterans and they were seen but i was not. enough is enough. we need to band together to help this broken down system to get back on track. i've also found out since this meeting, they prescribed this as a big class action lawsuit called larium. it was methodone. they gave it in place of doxicylone for malaria.

it turns out it's lsd. they turn us drug addicts and then when we get back here, they make us feel bad for being drug addicts. all you guys want to do is kill us. from day one, we've been in the military, you've been trying to kill us. and you're not going to stop until we're dead. but we're not going away. we're here and we're here to stay. [ applause ] >> i'm not a veteran, but i have a stepfather, a father, who is in the military. and i have an uncle here who was in the military and i'm also a wife whose husband has been in the military. i've been around it my whole life. and now i help my uncle ray. i can't understand why they are waiting so long. my stepfather needs surgery. he's at 60% now. they said once he has the

surgery, then he'll be able to get a hundred. well, he can barely walk right now. my uncle ray has an appeal that's been waiting since 2009. we spoke to a woman yesterday named sandy. her agent code is 8026. i believe she said she was out of utah. we called the arizona office. we got utah to call us back. because the lines were so busy, we didn't want to lose our place in line and my uncle didn't want to hold the phone up to his ear for 20-30 minutes, which they called back an hour later. but we spoke to sandy and she told us that the wait time on his appeal is 180 days. i think he's done those days already. on the web site, it states 46 5.

which one is correct? he called last week to check up on something and to see about his claim. they told him, mr. cleveland, you were denied twice for neural surgery. he's not been up for neural surgery. he's up for secondary on his right side. they said we paid you for that. no, you paid him for the right, not the left. and then they tell him it's not service related. well, both of his legs are connected to his body, so i think it's service related. i've seen my uncle go from this happy person to if someone says the wrong thing to him now, he is ready to kill them. i had to get on the phone with the lady just so he wouldn't get so frustrated yesterday. but, now, after seeing all of this, seeing my dad go through getting 10% where he was stabbed in vietnam and they took it back from him.

how do you do that? he's still disabled. 10% for serving time in the marines and the navy? something is wrong with this system. i'm one of the people who see the other side of this when they're at home. going off, can't get the things that they need. i physically went with my uncle and his caseworker to his outside physician to get his medical records to bring here. the doctor told him, i will not give you any medication until you tell that doctor you will not see him and he will not treat you. he will not give you medication, and i won't either. he's still in pain and i know, being an exmilitary wife, they love to pump you full of motrin. it does nothing. it tears your stomach up, the ibuprofen. he's sitting here walking around

in pain, can't walk at night. takes something to wake up, takes something to go to sleep. he's walking around in this haze, but we're the one that is get the brunt of it. they'll come here, get no help, and then come home pissed off. well, now i'm pissed off. somebody needs to do something about this. it's my uncle, my husband and my step dad. i'm going to say the same thing i say at my kid's school. does more people have to die before anything has been done here? 893 days. i think he's done his time. someone needs to look at that appeal from 2009. [ applause ] >> i've been a disabled veteran for 2 4 years. i've been treated in florida, ohio, pennsylvania and now phoenix.

i'm going to read my statement first. there are two kinds of people in this world. the first are people who believe in service to others. then there is a second type of people. who only believe in service to self. sharon helmut is a person who is in a group of service to self. when she was collecting bonuses, people suffered. he is curreshe is currently in the virginia a. system. how can we trust a system who purposely hurt us for money. you say you wanted to move forward, i do, too. to build trust, we have to go to the source that caused us to mistrust. that would be to stop funding

sharon heldman. if we don't make these changes future generations, your sons, daughters and grandchildren will be treated the same way. we can work together to ensure that all veterans are treated with respect. listen to and medically taken care of. if this meeting doesn't make the necessary steps to move forward today, then i call back all veterans to unite and take back in a peaceful way. [ applause ] >> 2003, congestive heart failure. my heart was at 7%. they came and gave me my last rights.

the v.a. said move her to cleveland. my doctor said if you move, you'll die. i never received one heart doctor. i survived through prayer, not the v.a. also, i've had back pain since 2 2004. i've asked for two years for 5:00 e5:0acupuncture. i finally, and i have a great doctor, fee based out. as i'm talking to the fee-based gentleman, i said i've been paying for my acupuncture every week, it's $75 per week because mentally, i couldn't take the pain anymore. and i didn't receive any help. he said we fee basis that out. i have a copy of my medical

record where i came five times, in person, and requested acupuncture. my primary care physician followed through. she's great. she sent it to the pain clinic. i've never heard from them in two years. it's fallen on deaf ears. but what i would like to say one other thing. i empowered myself over the v.a. and, yes, i don't have anymore money for acupuncture. but i saved myself. and i had to. the other thing is -- there's two things. mary grossof, my primary care physician, since i've been coming here, half the time, she never even had a nurse. she's overwhelmed, overworked and she's limited by you guys.

so i go to my primary care and i personally ask, okay, i got fee based out for back surgery. i'm still needing acupuncture to get me through, like, once a week. they tell me come back in march, 2015, six months from now. it will be two years. veterans, if you don't stand together and unite, we're not going to win. so i'm asking you, please, of all v.a. veteran, stand together and we can win. amen. >> good evening. i'm chief petty officer of the navy cbs retired. i was one of the first women cbs that they let into construction. not that we can't do

construction, it's just that the boys didn't want us there. how many women vets are right here, right now? please identify yourselves? seven of us maybe? there are, according to my friend that sent me the information from this meeting, 59,000 women vet ins the state of arizona. which means most of them are probably here in phoenix. where are they? the ones i've met and seen? i'm not going there. for one, the men that we serve with, or most of the majority now, the vietnam vets treat me like crap. if you want to act like a man, i'm going to treat you like a man and i got called a dike. you know what, the law says something different now. but we still get treated like

crap. when i grew up in the military, i grew up in the army. and the army whacks that i saw on all of the basis, they were either whores, sluts or dikes. and those do not fit the women, do they ladies? that needs to stop. i get told i'm not going to treat you because i don't like your tone of voice. i'm sorry. i was a drill instructor for three years. i'm a navy carpenter. i worked and played with the boys in the sand and the dirt. i'm not some little thing that goes oh, ha, ha, ha. who talks like that except

somebody that was taught to talk that way? real women talk like what we do. but we're misperceived. with that statement came from a physician's assistant who i made a kplachbt about. oh, we're sorry that she did that. but she's still working here and she's still abusing people. and i had to go out in town and get treated because this person wouldn't and didn't like my tone of voice. i can't change it. that's the way it is. so one other thing, too, the patient advocate, her name is karen. tall, skinny lady. she is a military veteran. she has busted her butt to be a patient's advocate. but once things get above her, that's where things go wrong and nothing gets done. when i saw her this last month getting frustrated with other veterans because she's so overwhelmed.

she got changed -- and i can't believe that the people here didn't know they're not in the topaz clinic anymore. they got moved from those spaces a year and a half ago because they were too small. now, they went to the topaz, they got more space and now they're back in the same thing again. and today, she's the only one in there. the last rep left. she tried to get a permanent job as a v.a. advocate and they wouldn't take care of her. >> i'm like what is wrong with you. this is not you. i had to go and force the person

she had dereceived to see her. and i said something's wrong. this is not her. i've known her for years. this is not her. do a test on her and see if she's all right. ed then i had to force the person to help me wheel her to the emergency room because the emergency room here will not accept a patient on this property that gets sick. i was told call a ambulance from the outside and then you can bring her around to the emergency room or, on the outside from another hospital before she can be brought here. and the end result of all this was her doctors over-medicated her. and the first thing out of her mouth is you must have overdosed on person. no, i know my friend. she has a person living with her that is watching every bit of the medication. they had her upstairs for a week and a half probably, over six days. and i had to advocate for her

there because the doctors were, like, oh, well. and i'm like did you do this? did you check this? that's how female veterans get treated. i got put in a hospital here because one of the nurses decided to infekt both tonsils and not have gloves on when they were doing the swab test. in lieu of that, i got put up in the second floor, c something. the room was filthy. they hadn't cleaned it from whomever else was in there. i was supposed to be sharing the bathroom with the room next to me. it was filthy. before i could even walk in there and i could hardly talk because tonsils swell up, voice goes down. i was told get in bed. we'll send somebody. we'll send somebody. this whole entire hospital is filthy. the only reason this room is half way clean is because it's brand new. there's a friend of mine in mesa, her boyfriend had to go to the hospital here. he got put in a bed that was

broken and put in with ripped sheets. we're veter rans. we get broken beds and ripped sheets. there are pictures of that and they're going up to the i.g. there's a whole bunch of other women vet that is are complaining and they've gotten together and they've gone to the ig and other plaiss with these things. but that's how women veter rans get treated. there's no compassion by the people that work in this building. none. all you are is a body and they've got to get through you to get to the next one to get to the next one so they can go home. i am a senior enlisted individual. i didn't get there by putting up with people's crap. but i've had to bite my tongue in here because if i don't bite my tongue the right way, no offense, guys, but the gestapo gets called. that means the police. when they come in, the button has been pushed, you don't even

know the button has been pushed. all of the sudden, you're being surrounded and are like what the heck? oh, because i didn't like your tone of voice. these people here in the front office that is you had to go through them to get to your doctor stop you, they piss you off, they do anything to ear tate you just so they can keep you in from getting treated because they're overloaded. >> no, they're affirmative action employees that don't belong here. >> they don't belong here. >> a lot of people say we only want veterans working in those spots. you've got veterans that served one or two years in the military and got out because they couldn't handle it. and they're here with people who put their lives on the line and stuck it out. just because you were in the military dunt mean you should be sitting behind these desks.

some of those people have p.t.s.d., too. when you put p.t.s.d. up against p.t.s.d., you get fire. is that not true, guys? you're laughing because you know. >> how come you didn't tell me four of those ago. now it's eight into it and you're telling me i'm pre-diabetic? look at me. i'm like, how the hell did that happen? okay, maybe because it's in my family, i don't know. but i went through all the food things that they have here. i've gone through all the little classes and, guess what? i'm smart enough to know, and i've got a master's, so i'm not

some bimbo standing up here without education and can't do research. i've researched the diabetic stuff. this place, right now, is teaching the wrong information about diabetic control. they're killing you by giving you the wrong insulin. they're killing you by saying you can still eat bread. they're killing you by saying graze throughout the day. grazing throughout the day kills your pan kraes. they do not have the updated information on diabetes. the one nutritionist that we have is being told to tell people that. it's wrong. so, reich that one gentleman, at first, he was talking about his diabetes is about to kill him now because of misdiagnosis and so on. i have can be proactive. i'm healthy enough. i can look things up. what about the poor veterans that can't?

>> women that take the initiative are seen as negative. men that take the initiative are seen as oh, what a neat person. they're so good. and that's how women get treated. any time we've been taught and trained to be good and take care of ourselves and others, also. we are not necessarily the little prima donnas that are wearing skirts. we are not there for your sexual pleasure. but that's what they thought we were there for in the military. there's military sexual trauma on top of p.t.s.d. how many women know about that? military section you trauma? one, two, three, four. okay. and then they come in here and get harassed. there's groups of guys standing there and they'd google ogle and

give cat calls. but the same little goes on. and i hear it from our other women counter parts. we do talk behind everybody's backs. so that kind of stuff needs to stop. 59,000 women, where are they? last friday afternoon, this friday afternoon, i could have went home, jumped in my pool and had a very fine evening. but i didn't. because there was a woman that i met at my truck on the way out. i saw she was navy. i introduced myself and said hey, how's it going. i said no, no.

took her with me and got her back here. i got her through a lot of steps that nobody else would help her with. i said hasn't anybody in the v.a. told you this yet? no, but i've been trying. >> they don't do anything. that was last friday. the supervisor occupy there for

the pill pushers sat there and told her, well, you have to wait. he can only have one medicine because that medicine is a need. she says we've been waiting 30 days already. you haven't shipped it out. well, it shows we shipped it. and then in the next breath, he says it hasn't been shipped. she goes give me proof. oh, well, my computer, all of the sudden, doesn't print that. they went back to the goal clinic. goal clinic printed up everything. yeah, this is want you need. you need this now. to get on your trip and go back up to michigan. the daughter was about to flip out. i'm sitting there going shhhh. calm down. calm down. you don't want them to call the cops. shhhh. it's okay. >> the father, himts, was getting upset and the daughter is telling him to be calm. how could he be calm when they're running you back and forth between one clinic to the next. the

talked to karen. she says i couldn't do anything because the father was down the pill pusher line. i said that's his advocate, his daughter. >> oh, no, i could bt see it. i'm just following policy. she gets caught in it. she can't do anything. she says i have the phone number. i'm going to call'm later. the daughter left on that end in tears. she came from michigan and said it's not nasty like that over there. they treat us good over there. they treat my father fine. that's why we're taking him out of here. now, that doesn't say much for anybody. i've had people do passive aggressive behavior. if they don't like you, don't like the way you look, don't

like what you sound like because that's your voice, they get back at you. they'll get revenge on you. they will stop you from getting an appointment that you wanted. they will stop and not give the doctor the paperwork the doctor's supposed to sign. they say oh, the doctor's not allowed to sign that. what? doctor. signature. what does that mean? did we not all take english? even if you're from a foreign country, if it says doctor's signature, the doctor is supposed to be able to sign it. these doctors up here have been told that they're not allowed to sign anything. the doctors themselves told me this. the psych ward down here. p.t.s.d. i've gotten taken out of seeing my doctors they said we have to let you go because we have to take care of the new vets. well, excuse me. i was here first. at the least. and that sounds really, really immature, but that's the level they take you to.

bear with me. i don't want to make sure i didn't miss anything. oh, valet parking. i don't want anybody touching my vehicle. i don't want some volunteer coming in and taking my vehicle somewhere when my vehicle has my meds in it. my vehicle has my stuff in it that i know i need and i -- tell me i can't park my own vehicle? you can put that in your sock and do what you want with it because i'm trying to be nice. now, one of the things about parking, since it's been brought up by you guys, there's a bunch of vans, vans, vans, vans, vans, everywhere, vans.

doctors are taking spots off the night shift and are saving them for their counter parts. they're going out there and switching parking spots so the day people can have the parking spots. doctors that come here and visit. i've seen them do this. pull in right up front. they shouldment be parking up front. it's a long way from that front. those little carts are not sufficient. if you don't have enough volunteers that day, they don't run. they don't run.

that's inefficient. when i come back tonight, oh, look, big sign up there by the elevator. i see you guys trickling in. where's everybody at? nobody knew to come here. nothing from witomen vets.

we are second class or worse citizens. if somebody in here thinks that's funny, then you shouldn't be in the room if you think that that's funny. i've brought women through boot camp. and i've said you are strong navy women. don't let stuff happen. one of my strongest recruits is here in phoenix. she was the mass of arms. she was in charge at night when i'm gone. she got beat up. raped. downtrodden. this is not the same individual that i brought through boot camp and helped her be strong. and then she's caught -- through the v.a., also. when are these atrocities going to stop? and i don't forget the guys, but

the women get it worse. i'm senior enlisted. i busted my butt to get there. i got [expletive] on there by the guys who couldn't do it. when they couldn't do it as good, they tried to find a way to make me look bad. it didn't work, but they still do it now. and some of the women in here that are working in this building, they're the oh, cutsey girls, and they look at us like we're bad people because we're women military. we are a different breed. we're not like the rest of the women on the civilian side. that doesn't mean we don't dress up and clean up nice. if i put a dress on, you wouldn't recognize me. but i'm riding my motorcycle tonight. but i'm sure somebody's going dike, dike, di kerks e. i'm sure. because the gentleman that inferred that i was is standing here.

oh, have you guys heard the new catch phrase? have you heard it yet? this is their excuse on how to make things better at the v.a. you talk to them. you call them. you get on the phone. or you're right in front of them. i'm helping another vet. could you wait? now, i told this gentleman at the front door this before we started, but i'll let you all know about this. i'm sitting in topaz clinic waiting to go to patient's advocate to complain about somebody for being stupid. two employees are talking about personal, off-work stuff. the phone rang. one of them finally, finally, where's the one that said the phone never gets picked up. the phone never gets picked up because people are talking about personal stuff. the person finally piked the phone up and said i'm helping

another vet. can you hold? and didn't give the person time to say yeah or nay. and then finally, after they were done, they finally answered that phone again. i don't know if the person was still on the line. but i think -- that was the first time i heard that phrase. and now i'm hearing it when i get on the phone and try to get through to somebody. oh, i'm sorry, we're helping another vet now. what, what the hell am i? chopped liver? and that's saying it nicely. what about the other vets you're telling that to. what are you doing when you tell us, oh, i'm helping another vet. >> and people think we make this stuff up.

>> i'm just making sure i didn't forget anything. >> the emergency room is a joke. they tell you, oh, you're not sick enough. wait and see your primary care doctor. and if you do get seen in there, you're going to be there all night long. and the last time i was in there, the day that i got put in the hospital because my tonsils and all the lymph nodes were poisoning my system, i accidentally left my phone in the car. well, gee, i'm trying to get in the emergency room, i forgot. do you know those idiots said you can't go get your phone. well, it's right there outside the emergency room door. i found a parking space. because it was nighttime and it was fourth of july. i had a fun time getting in here, okay. so i couldn't call my family, i couldn't call my friends. i couldn't call the person that had the keys to my house so that my dogs and cats could get fed

and watered. i was in limbo for 2 1/2, 3 days. and then when i look at the medical record, oh, you were only in the hospital one night. fraudulent. why would they make it fraudulent? say what it was. what does it hurt if i was in there 2 1/2 days or 3? why do they put one? so i don't know what kind of games they play. but the doctors in there, they're behind their computer. they're typing away. all red tape, whatever it is. and the patients are sitting there. i've taken three or four friends to that emergency room and the same thing happens to them. they sit there and sit there and sit there and sit there. heart problems. sitting there. heart problems. they should be on thathearted problem right now. i've been told just go in there and tell them you have a heart problem right off. that's you lying.

when you really want to get seen for your tonsil or you dropped something on your foot. or you see some physician's assistant i'm so sick of these physician's assistants that don't have any training. they may have passed that test, but that doesn't make them any good. and these doctors, this is through podiatry. they go in and one doctor, there may be ten people having an operation in the day. but that one doctor jumpbed in the room and said i'm here. that substantiates a doctor in the room. but we've got students doing major operations. that's [expletive]. and i said [expletive]. that is wrong. the doctor is supposed to be there and the student is supposed to be looking and learning how the doctor is doing it, not the other freaking way around where the doctor is in and out of the room and goes to the next room. 245's scary.

would you gentlemen like your doctors to be that way? i doubt that you have to do that because you make big money. you make a lot more than the rest of us make. how many officers and above are in here? one officer. two officers. well, the rest of us are enlisted. and we don't make that money. even if you get paid by the v.a., you're not making that kind of money. but they wouldn't put up with that kind of care and we have to. wrong. oh, and one of the gentlemen that died out of that 40? he was on the v.a. bowling league, him and his son. they took an old vietnam veteran man, put a pacemaker in his heart in this hospital and sent him home. they didn't keep him overnight for observation. his son found him the next morning dead. and i'm sure he would have been saved if they would have just kept him overnight.

and that commercial that's on the tv now where the lady is talking about the guy, the brother or somebody that kmited suicide because this emergency room said oh, we don't have any beds for you. go lay down and you can go home when you feel better. go out that door, look up that hallway, there's a ton of beds. and they've always been there. at one point, and this is from people in your staff, those beds were moved because karen didn't want them there. but now that she's gone, they're back. and i heard that day before yesterday. they're back. they hide them for their purposes and when they don't need them hidden anymore, they take them out. that's not a storeroom, that's a hall way. >> they're down there. i went to the wrong room, they're in there. >> well, there's some more down that hallway that goes straight out. they're still there. they were there an hour ago or two hours ago. so you found another spot

they're hiding them? >> yeah. >> excellent. so, gentlemen, what are we going to do about this? we can say all we want about stand together. most people don't have the energy to even stand up here. i spent two fridays helping two different sets of vets and their families. and it's not the first time that i've done it. but these are the most recent. and they can't get help by anybody in this facility. >> fellow veterans. everyone in this room here is a veteran or veteran's advocate.

mr. coats, i've been involved with this hospital since 1973 when i was released from walter reed army hospital after 14 months. i received three battle wounds, three purple hearts, i have parts of my body missing and minor surgeon triage specialist. i worked in airborne units and recon units for 13 years of my military career and five years in the national guard. i'm from the state of new hampshire. when i first came here, because i have one lung gone, they did not want me to be in the manchester veteran's hospital because i was going to be dying of pneumonia.

because of the altitude. when i first came here, there are members in this room right now who will vouch that we actually had to fight the v.a. system to get the post-traumatic stress clinic in. not only that, we had people dying out in the park out here with 90 day meds in their pockets committing suicide by overdosing. we finally got that squared away. i became state commander of the amvets. i'm also the international commander of the proud eagles, which are native american and nonnative american brothers called the wounded warriors. since november of last year, i

personally, as a commander, raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for this hospital. we're amvets. we still do the same thing now with all the fraternal clubs. we put $12 in the bank with one member in the back right now with the final 37 cents. if i'm lying, you raise your hand. we had 12 bucks. i happened to be the director for the veteran's service commissioner. we came in and asked them that we would like to have a remoral yal built. well, guess what? not only did we get the vietnam veteran's memorial built, we

commissioned the korean war memorial to get their memorial built. we put on the biggest parade this town has served in. we had everybody including our own commanders out there. the hospital at that time was under ray bourn. he worked night and day diligently to get us established in this hospital. we did not let him down. we came back and did the things that was needed to raise the funds that weren't al kated by federal budgets. now, there's one thing that's really bothering me. and 1.5 million of my compadres. we want the locals of the seal of this country and the eagle, it's guardian, being used as door mats outside of this hopt as i speak right now.

we have sent a letter to the president and a video explaining that we'd like to have this place placed in the proper areas. and i noticed yesterday, i looked at some of the guys and i said gee wiz, they're wearing the crest on their left breast pocket where they never did before but they're all wearing them now. all of these patches here, i've earned every single one of them. i'm 74 years old and i'm dying of ac agent orange liver cancer. i'm on a special native diet. and for the first time in two years, they told me, gees, louise, we couldn't find you, we thought you died. when were you going to tell me

that? well, i now have a good doctor and for the first time in two years, i got an appointment that said ron, we've got to put you on some $2,000 a day drug or you're going to die. an extensi program of antibiotics. kidneys shut down. liver is shut down. i've only got partial use of one lung, i have artificial stents in my right leg, seven fingers and hands, 13 inch scars down my chest from bayonet wounds while i was working on a veteran patient. i warant to make this very clea. before i pass on, there are men in this room that know me very well.

we started the fire base camp which is still running this day since 1984. we're not a bunch of rabble-rousers. we helped take people off the street. i'm a state commander. i'm a regional commander. and we would like to see before you leave to go back to washington, glen, i met you in the elevator a month ago -- >> absolutely. yep. >> i would like you to try to do -- get those door mats taken off. we're at war with isis right now. and we need to protect that eagle and that flag which we have all bled for and that's the reason we are in this room right this moment. i'm asking everyone to stand and be counted to put those on the

walls where they should be. i see some cages already to some medical personnel. and that's three combat badges i wear for that medical badge. >> thaurng very much. and god bless you guys. they're doing their very best to help you guys, too. some of these thing that is people have been saying are absolutely right on the money. i am a value investigator, news reporter and if i heard some of these stories and took them down, they would be considered verbatim information. [ applause ] >> in order to successfully implement -- what? oh. i've been asked because the person before your position called me a disgruntled vet when i asked her why can't we get

these mats taken off and in proper place where they should be. not on the floor. people are walking over them. as soon as you hit the door, you're on top of them. those are our flags. that one right there should be on the other side of you. i saluted to the right. i never saluted to the left. we want our independence. we want our flags removed to the proper positions. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> and you have sharon hillman still earning six figures on a paid leave. >> stop the clock. >> stop the clock. >> put her on the fifth floor.

i probably wouldn't be in this position if i would have gotten an apoichlt. i was told in 2012 that i would have to wait nine months to a year that i would have to get an appointment with a primary provider. in the interim, i went ahead and went up to utah, i also have property up in utah. so that was my biggest mistake. i got in there, first day, they said are you suicidal? i said no. they said are you homicidal? i said if you don't stop dinking with me, i will be. i was told by the v.a. i was

considered obstructive, as well as disruptive: as well as accused of threatening v.a. staff, which is an absolute lie. doctors, counselors, what a crock of crap, number one. i used to work for the department of corrections. my house has been monitored, medical records will verify that, where that information was only in my home. not over the telephone. have had a communication company dinking around for the last, quote, 3 1/2 years." playing little head kwams. i realize that's part of the discrediting aspect.

just say you're nuts. it's a lot easier. but on march 26, when i no longer had a legal action to go i guess yous for the doctors that mistreated me back in 2011, nor the hospital i could go after, the v.a. injected me, and they said are you sure you're exposed to hepatitis-c? i said i only know what i was told. i said i took treatment. and before i could say -- when they asked me that, i said are you sure? i want i only -- and then bam, given a shot, an injection. it was supposed to be a tetanus shot. it was supposed to be a whooping

cough combination. no, it was a major megadose of hepatitis-b, along with hepatitis-c. if i was being exposed to hepatitis-b, once would have been sufficient. but i realized the department of corrections has to do what they call damage control, not as though i would have said, hey, that's how i acquired it. but i don't appreciate that nonsense, the lies. i dealt with an advocate. now, they had already stolen my records from my home. they wanted me to say sexual trauma. i don't know a female in the united states military that hadn't been sexually harassed.

but it's not like we're all jumping on the bandwagon to say, o. oh, i'm a little wuss, i'm breaking down, that's all i think about. these people are looking for a free ride. they're using people that were exposed, do need help, basically jumping on the bandwagon trying to get a free ride trying to get disability. i did like her comments in regards to the classification of women. i know the exact same thing. when i was in the military, the same thing. it was either you were a slut or a dike, and i really don't like that word either. i did mention that to her. i would tail definite offense to that, even though i am gay, i'm

happy. i used to be happy until i had to deal with, quote, the v.a. march 26, 2013, salt lake hospital the funny thing is everything is running in the basement. when i was escorted out by v.a. police up in salt lake, they asked me, oh, was there a wireless cellular phone company? obviously they do this shit on a regular basis. they're stealing our identities and selling them off. these are quote canadians or polish or russians, but the individual who wanted my identify was 5'7", because that's what they changed my medical records to be. well, i was 5'9" 1/2 before treat. after treatment i'm not 5'8" in which.

1/2 so oops. when i was enforced into an incident -- i refer to it as an incident. it was not accident. it was an insurance scam. they do it on a regular basis. the department of corrections, they take their ciphers out to the hospital, they run that bill up the ying yang. it's all a medical exam. you blew the whistle, 380-some thousand dollars. that's not a little ride in the park. they're doing this crap on a regular basis. as far as the judicial background, what they were doing at the department of corrections was falsifying records, training records for p.a.e., people applying for p.a.e. the people of dill with, quote,

at salt lake also p.a.e. securities s. along with better riddian. they work for the v.a. they inter -- they go from, quote sitting at a desk at the v.a. office and then turn around and end up working communications. so, you know, i'm tired of being dinked with. now at this stage my legs -- i have turned into my -- my vascular system has shut down. my feet have abscesses to the bone, and the strange thing about it, when i talk to a psychologist -- because that's what they want to say you're nuts. she says, you know what? what happened to the individual? and she referred to me as a bitch, who she says, quote,

leave it up for karma. i said, that's right, university hospital. when i sit across the street, yeah, check this out, $1,900 some odd to go a i across the street. who's scheming? who ease scheming? the fact is i was paying $593 a month, regular insurance, and yet i am in there getting screwed by the v.a. well, you know i dealt with individuals that were supposedly -- i said -- i said doctors, i said i haven't seen a doctor since i've been in this dump? how is that? you've got a nurse-practitioner, a p.a., i said, oh, that's right, dermatologists. i finally see an actual doctor. well, my feet were, quote,

infest infested. i can barely walk siismt abscesses in my feet down to the bone, and thank you so very m h much. my partner of 30 years said don't come here, she said don't, they'll just throw you in there in the nut ward. i laughed and set, let them try. i said i've taken on bigger boys than what i have seen here lately, and i'll just handle them their kahunas. that's the last game i dealt with salt lake, harrisville, actually. i call it damage control. initially i was brought in as a white sheet, pink sheet, suicidal. that way the v.a. would pay for it. i said but i'm not suicidal.

you know, it's -- i realize it's all an insurance scam. now, while i was paying $593 per month to supposedly united health care, it wasn't going to united healthcare. it was going to an individual's pocket. the v.a. was supposed to end up picking up the bill. i don't like that. i don't like how our judicial system is so corrupt. i mean, i don't care where you go. i mean, they're doing background checks. i go to the bank. who does a background check on those banks? they were stealing -- they stole $56,000 out of my account, every penny in my 401. i have receipts. i put in $37,000 and some odd

cents. i got a receipt for $50,000. that meant basically the department of corruption basically gave them a ticket of $50,000, you deal with this problem. you get rid of the problem. i'm at a stage in my life that i don't really -- quo give a rat's heinie about what people think. i've always been asked if i was from, quote, back east. i want, why is that? back east? they said, because you're outspoken. i said, well, i said well, if i were in utah, i said you're correct, that would be considered back east. i laughed, ha ha, but those women back there, they keep them medicated. they don't want to speak out, because they're afraid. but, yeah, this system is definitely broken. the v.a. hospital, i asked for

out -- outsourcing, as far as medical. i was laughed at so gently, and told they don't treat help tights-b. i said you're full of crap. they do treat it which it's chronic, and since you gave me such a megadose, my body is collapsing, appeared hepatitis-c, so thank you very much. i don't appreciate it, i said, but i'll deal with it. what they did -- and this is what i refer to as, quote, engineered -- engineered crap. they do this on a regular basis up in utah. first thing you feel is a pain in the knees and hips. oh, gee whiz, now who replaces thor knees and hips? oh, that's right,