×

Changes at Van Zandt please Vietnam veteran

Vietnam veteran John Gradwell of Huntingdon has lodged his share of complaints with officials of the Van Zandt VA Medical Center during the hospital’s periodic town hall meetings.

But at a “roundtable”-style town hall Tuesday, Gradwell began with compliments, followed by a couple of suggestions that hardly rose to the level of complaints.

The compliments were for the hospital’s having corrected issues Gradwell brought up previously.

One prior complaint was about a door with an opener button that didn’t work for Gradwell, because when he got close enough to push it, his wheelchair was in a position to be hit by the door — a situation that deactivated the button for safety.

The other prior complaint was about a phone system that kept him on hold as long as 45 minutes.

The door now works perfectly, provided an employee takes care of the panic bar in the morning, Gradwell said.

And the phone system now delivers him to a “live person” within 10 rings, he said.

“I appreciate what you’ve done,” Gradwell told Interim CEO Chuck Thilges. “You listened to me,” he told Associate Director Charles Becker.

Gradwell followed the compliments with a suggestion that in an oblong parking area near the front door, the hospital switch from perpendicular to angled parking, to increase capacity.

“We can have our engineer take a look,” Thilges said.

Gradwell also suggested a stop sign at a pedestrian crossing near the front door, where, he said, people tend to be preoccupied with their doctor visits or their smartphones, and tend not to pay attention to through traffic.

“You’re going to have someone killed,” he said.

“Good thought,” said Safety Director Becky Long. “We’ll take that back (for discussion).”

Gradwell also suggested a canopy at a drop-off point at which he recently observed patients drenched.

Those patients could have stayed dry if they’d used the new parking garage, which is connected with the hospital by a covered walkway, Becker said.

That wouldn’t work for him, because he has a post-traumatic stress reaction to parking garages, due to his experience in Vietnam, where he sometimes had to crawl into tunnels, he said.

But the Van Zandt garage is open on the sides, unlike many big-city parking garages, Becker said.

“It’s airy,” Long said. “Try it. You might be surprised.”

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

COMMENTS

[vivafbcomment]

Starting at $4.39/week.

Subscribe Today