Local veterans know firsthand the frustration of waiting to see a doctor at the VA hospital in Decatur.
Steve Adams, commander of the American Legion Post 127 in Buford, needs knee replacement surgery and has already waited a year.
“It could be improved a lot… they could give you a voucher and you go out to another doctor or hospital and it would be a lot better,” he tells WSB’s Sandra Parrish.
“They need to follow the money and figure out what bonus program that they’ve installed… because obviously making fake lists of patients being served isn’t working,” he says.
Troy Zavitz, the finance officer at the post, is even more frustrated now over the controversy surrounding fake patient lists at the VA hospital in Phoenix.
While Republican members of Congress are calling for the resignation of Eric Shinseki, Zavitz believes it goes beyond the embattled VA secretary.
“It’s been bad for a long time and I’m not just knocking this current administration, but this current administration is really down on vets,” he says.
Besides vouchers, Adams believes it would help to employ more veterans in the hospitals.
“Veterans take care of veterans—a lot better,” he says.