VA-Carl-Suicide-Saga

October 13, 2007
Cover Pulling at VA Hospital

From:
Carl G. Mueller, Nam 68 Phone: (909) 866-9310
PO Box 120707
38941 N Bay Drive
Big Bear Lake, CA 92315-8941

To:
US Congressmen Jerry Lewis
@ Judy Miller Phone: (909)-792-5901
1150 Brookside Ave. Suite J-5
Redlands, CA 92373

Subject: Congressional Probe into the BLOCKING of PTSD care at Loma Linda VA hospital. Short Version of my VA stay, Aug. 3, 2007 to Sept. 20, 2007.

INTRODUCTION:
August 3, 2007 I went to the Loma Linda VA hospital located at 11201 Benton Street, Loma Linda, CA, to have my records upgraded and see if I could have my stomach problems taken care of. I saw Doctor Huang in Module 4 about my stomach problems. After talking to him about my suicide thoughts and that possibly being the cause for stomach pain, Doctor Huag suggested psychiatric care.

While in the psychiatric lock down unit of day four I was told to attend the Willingness Group run by Richard, who said he had a doctor’s degree and also ran the PTSD program. In that Willingness Group Richard would decide what came next. Richard would tell us who where now in his Willingness Group that if we where lucky, meaning beds where available, and or qualified we could get into the VA hospital’s Addiction Treatment Program ATP. ATP meant we would have free room and board at the Harris House for 28 days and attended VA hospital programs. The details and rules of the Harris House program where never mentioned. If details where mentioned many Veterans would NOT summit to the demeaning rules and regulations.
Example, The walk to the buss stop was about 1-mile. If we didn’t stay in a tight group during that walk we would all have to walk the 1-mile holding hands like kindergartners on a school field trip. These many degrading rules caused the dropout rate to be about 1 or 2 a week.

About the second week we started to understand ATP started with the VA’s Responsibilities Group and Harris House then the next group was either Addictions Group or, Problems Group.

The Responsibilities Group and Harris House program lasted for 28 days and room and board was free except for the bus fair 5 days a week from the Harris House to the VA hospital.
Note:
We had to wash cars on Sunday to pay for the buss passes. Personal cars where not allowed unless you where so addicted on heroin you had to get extra methadone medication at a non-VA methadone clinic because the VA hospital was not legally allowed to give over a certain amount. The VA new they where breaking the hospital rules but for some reason (a good attorney) this person was allowed to drive his own car to get extra methadone!

An 8 to 9 month ATP was necessary because, we where told our/my drug addictions are what lead to mental problems and or suicidal thoughts and not vice versa. We where not told or encouraged to apply for PTSD benefits during the first 28 days in the Responsibilities Group. I got an irregular one-week discharge from my next group. That group was called Problems Group. The irregular discharge happened during my first ½ hour of being accepted into the Problems Group.

The circumstances that lead up to the discharge happened at the R4 housing which most go into after going through the Harris House Housing. R4 housing cost $50.00 a week.

PERSONAL NOTE: Being the oddball.
All staff members new I had not drank or used drugs or been arrested in over three years except for a little pot smoking during the months of March and April. This made me the oddball of the Groups. Another oddball thing about me was my serious issue of NOT trusting of our government. Being drafted and forced to fight in Nam did not help with my distrusting attitude either! I also became more distrusting of the hospital’s therapy/Social Worker staff. It was a hospital where therapists did NOT show a good deal of mercy. The housing and VA hospital had become institutions where staff appeared to almost gloat when able to give admonishment during group meetings or therapy sessions. The hospital and housing settings had resemblances of a military training camp. The demeaning tactics used in Groups where an insult to the word hospital. If such undignified behavior was necessary by the staff therapists then such behavior should be conducted outside of the VA hospital so as not to disgrace the words Veterans Hospital.

I witnessed patients laughing and being friendly, providing hope and cheer, dancing and acting young while doing the dishes and listing to the radio. The next day that same friend who provided me hope failed to speak up in a group in which my own admittance in that group was in the balance. When that person was called on in the group to speak on my behalf he panicked and said, “The whole ordeal of events in the past day are changing so fast I can’t understand it.” Other patient’s just plane lie or shrunk into nervous silence. This is the type of spiritless men (fear of going to jail or back to living homeless) the hospital was bringing into being. During my 7 weeks of observation I felt the hospital could not handle the extensive variations in personalities in 20 to 25 man groups unless such spirit breaking was enacted.

VARP Inc. A dishonor to Veterans:
VARP stands for Veterans Alcoholic Rehabilitation Program. The Harris House as is the R4 Housing is controlled and or owned by VARP Inc. That’s where the “Planed” problems begin in my opinion. I call it planned problems because the staff knows about the problems that cause veterans to walk out of the program(s) but the staff, in my opinion is also under pressure to keep the patients coming in and shipping out because beds need to be available for the next seemly unlimited amount of new patients.

Some of the Known Problems:
1. 30 men coming off different types of addictions and medications all living together.

2. Not getting enough sleep was a problem for many Veterans because of a full schedule etc. In my case insomnia. Once I was awake I had difficulty getting back to sleep.

3. Pressure to request formally in the group such simple things as reading your mail, making phone calls. The list goes on and on. I as others would do is just say, piss on it. It’s not worth the embarrassment. I’ll take care of it latter. Remember we got serious things on our minds.

4. Group members are required to snitch or squeal or blow the whistle, tattle, report or whatever name you want to call it. In both the housing and hospital programs this snitching is called “PULLING COVERS”.

Pulling Covers: One of the biggest known problems
This pulling covers in a group is wear Veterans can get kicked out of there housing then with no housing most likely the Veteran will drop out of the hospital treatment program(s) altogether. If the cover pulling is in a hospital group meeting then the Veteran can get kicked out of the hospital and then is atomically kicked out of the housing program. If rent has been paid there is no refund. Veterans coming into the program for more then the first time and have jailhouse group experience (known as shot-callers) can create a situation, manipulate the group with rumors and then have the group vote a person out of the group or at the very least give the person additional unnecessary stress. Staff knows about shot-callers but many are rich and seem to be calling shots using VARP Inc.

PTSD Obstacles, Short Version:
I feel the VA hospital deliberately leads Veterans that might suffer from PTSD into the Veterans Alcoholic Rehabilitation Program VARP Inc. These hardcore addicts now coming off their addictions and forced to live together start forcing each other out of the VARP program and also out of the hospital’s programs. Based on my seven-weeks of irritating experiences I and other patients are so confused and dejected we leave the hospital all together and therefore the Veterans Administration does NOT have to pay for PTSD counseling, therapy and benefits because the deserving Veteran never makes it into the PTSD program. The system makes the Veteran believe he or she has to go through these other therapy programs before qualifying for PTSD therapy program and possible benefits.

If the Veterans hospital was sincere about the helping with PTSD they would have the Veteran be tested and counseled for PTSD. The hospital understands that PTSD is what might have turned the patient into an addict. If the hospital were sincere they would NOT contract the rehabilitation of its Veterans to such a harsh environment as VARP Inc. I would have to be a total idiot to think that the hospital doesn’t understand the harshness of VARP Inc. To me it looks like the Veterans Administration is hiding behind the corporation status of VARP Inc.


PLEASE start a Congressional Probe:
Probe the blocking of PTSD benefits, no written rules and spirit breaking actions at the CA Loma Linda, VA hospital. Probe the Harshness of VARP’s Inc. rules and the many no written rules in the Harris House living arrangements and R4 housing and the VA hospital’s many therapy groups no written rules block Veterans’ access to prompt PTSD mental health care.

Based on my personal experiences with this lack of prompt mental health care and the below LA Times story, I request a Congressional Probe into Loma Linda VA hospital’s complete mental health care operations.

Sincerely,
Carl G. Mueller, Nam 68

CC:

Dept. Of Veterans Affairs
John R. Elter, DMD, PhD, Director of Surveys
Office of Quality and Performance Data Center
Veterans Health Administration
Washington DC 20420

Henry Weinstein, Times Staff Writer Henry.weinstein@latimes.com
Los Angeles Times
202 W. 1st St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Others by email



My stay at Loma Linda VA Hospital Aug. 3, 2007 till Sept 21, 2007
TIME LINE:
August 3, 2007 to August 10, 2007. Psychiatric lock down unit because of suicidal thoughts.
August 3, 2007. It was suggested to me by my primary care Dr. Huang / Module 4 that I speak with Dr(s) about being admitted to 2 NE in the psychiatric lock down unit because of suicidal thoughts. I was admitted and stayed there till August 10, 2007.

August 10, 2007 to September 7, 2007. “Responsibilities Group”
During my stay at the lock down unit it was suggested to me by a Dr. I know only as Richard, that I should attended the “Responsibilities Group”. A 28-day live in program at a house away from the hospital which was called Harris House. I was to attend 5 full days of drug therapy at the hospital in what was called “Responsibilities Group” I had not drunk or used drugs in the past 3 years except marijuana about 5 times during the months of March and April 2007. I assumed the hospital did not have a suicidal program only a drug addiction program so I agreed to this Responsibilities Group. Knowing the complete hospital and living program was about 9 months long.

September 7, 2007 to September 17, 2007. One extra week in “Responsibilities Group” then starts “Problems Group”
I had to stay an extra week in “Responsibilities Group because I needed extra time to memorize some rules. Then I was admitted into “Problems Group”. I also had moved into a different housing area called R4 Housing. R4 Housing and Harris House where both contracted by the VA hospital with a company called Veterans Alcoholic Rehabilitations Program, VARP Inc. Main office, 1100 N. “D” Street, San Bernardino, CA 92401. The first order of business in “Problems Group” was to have my counselor submit a letter to the Big Bear Courthouse showing my enrolment in the VA drug addiction program. The second order of business that same time in “Problems Group” was my one week dismissal out of “Problems Group” and thus out of the R4 housing. Thus I was in R4 housing 10 days and in “Problems Group” less then one full group meeting. About 20 minutes total.

September 17, 2007 to September 21, 2007, VA psychiatric lock down unit again because of suicidal thoughts.
After getting kicked out of “Problems Group” I went to the VA emergency room and requested to be admitted to 2 NE’s psychiatric lock down unit because of suicidal thoughts. I was admitted and stayed there till September 21, 2007.

EXTRA:
http://test-drug-counselors.blogspot.com/

October 24, 2007 I applied for Operation Breakthrough in Big Bear Lake, CA.
I was accepted into Operation Breakthrough drug treatment program and attended my first group session on October 26, 2007.

October 29, 2007 I was order by the court to continue Operation Breakthrough program.