Thanks Steph. I will contact her.
Al,
I had my first interaction with the VA earlier this year. I am retired military so I have had Tricare and private doctors since retiring. I will admit my first interaction with the small VA clinic in Knoxville left a lot to be desired. The PCP they assigned me didn't have a clue about ALS and refused to fill a prescription that the Mayo in Jacksonville had given me because "he didn't want to be responsible for monitoring me". My next appointment was in Johnson City a couple of hours away at the VA Hospital. Everything was different there and the entire staff was wonderful. They hooked me up with a new modified van, a power wheelchair, cough assist, suction, etc and I needed none of those yet. They were even aware I was in the process of moving back to Florida so they could have easily passed the buck. My local PCP and staff at the Viera VA Clinic are outstanding. She only has 100 patients assigned so can give the time needed. I spent a week at the ALS Clinic in Tampa a couple of weeks ago and I found the entire staff to be outstanding as well. They set me up with a remote medical monitoring system so I could have appointments via video and it has a stethoscope as well. On Friday they sent a mobile pulmonary tech over who did all the testing in the comfort of my house. I could not be more pleased with the support I am getting from the VA. I have heard all the horror stories though.
Regards,
Bruce