Veterans express frustration, VA announces 'tidal wave' of change

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Anger came out Tuesday night toward the local VA. Veterans vented their frustration as the VA announced what it's calling a tidal wave of change coming to the Central Valley.

The local VA is hiring 89 people, it says, to better serve our local veterans. The anger came from injured and suffering service members who say, and the hospital agrees, much more needs to be done for them.

Strong emotions, some festering for years, surfaced at the second town hall meeting held by VA Central California.

"I've been waiting almost eight months and they keep changing the appointments," said Fresno resident Guadalupe Gutierrez, Sr. "I'm very angry about that."

Gutierrez received applause following his powerful plea to the hospital administration for improved care at Tuesday's meeting. Gutierrez suffers from memory and hearing loss, among a host of other ailments after serving in the Korean War.

"I was there for two and half years," he said. "Two of my friends from school, I saw when they got killed."

The town hall is part of new VA Secretary Robert McDonald's plan to overhaul the federal program by increasing feedback and transparency.

Local acting director Dr. Wessel Meyer says the Valley has not seen problems with extraordinarily long wait times, like Phoenix which was knocked for keeping thousands of vets on secret wait lists.

But there are, as some of these vets expressed, problems with waiting for care. "We have challenges in certain specialties," Dr. Meyer said. "But most of those are directly related to the availability of specialty providers."

Meyer says the Central Valley received close to $20 million to hire 89 doctors and support staff to expand specialties like urology, dermatology and podiatry.

"We're hiring more physical therapists," Meyer said. "We're expanding our sleep study lab; all of this is already underway."

Hospital administration says progress will require patience, but it's being made.

Gutierrez says he feels better for venting publicly. "With my son and my wife here.... I know it's going to be OK," he said.

To the hospital's credit, many of the veterans expressed huge gratitude for the care they are currently receiving. And for each complaint, at least one person from the hospital took down contact information and promised to help resolve individual issues.