Although the Fayetteville VA Hospital had a five-star rating in 2016, it has seen consistent employee turnover in its psychiatric and primary care units from 2011 to 2015.
Fayetteville, known as Veteran Health Care of the Ozarks, is one of the 17 five-star rated VA hospital out of the 146 medical centers ranked.
The psychiatry department has seen a consistent average loss rate ranging from .07 to .25 and a primary care average loss rate ranging from .04 to .14.
A UofA nursing student and Iraqi war vet said that although the Fayetteville VA has its issues, it’s a lot better than it’s been.
“Some major differences between VA hospitals and city hospitals are how they treat you,” Cyrus Behnia said. “They look at you like you’re tougher, like you’re different, so you can waitlonger.”
The Little Rock VA had a three-star rating in 2016, and one veteran said walking into its doors is like walking into a dungeon.
“The staff is impersonal, the bathrooms are filthy and it seems like the doctors just don’t have a problem with you waiting,” Lonnie Young, 68, said.
Young, who has been to VA hospitals in Colorado, Los Angeles and Las Vegas said that it can’t even compare to Fayetteville’s.
“I’d like vets to be seen promptly,” Young said. “Some of them won’t stand up for betterconditions like I will, and VA hospitals like Little Rock seem to be fine with just giving you pillsand sending you home instead of really fixing the problem.”
Although the term “loss rate” has yet to be defined by the VA, data has been released dictating why each employee left, including death, resignation, disabilities, separation and termination and transfers.
“I once had back pain and sat in the ER for over an hour and was never seen,” Behnia said of Fayetteville.
Although Veterans like Behnia said they could have had better experiences, others have said Fayetteville is the best VA they have been to.
“I would rank Fayetteville a solid eight out of ten based on its size,” Young said. “If you step into the ER there is always someone there ready to help you.”
Recent Comments