If you are a veteran in eastern Oklahoma, then you likely received an email last week inviting you to the Ernest Childers Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic in Tulsa for a “Veterans Health Assistance Expo.” The event was to take place on Thursday, August 27, from 1000 to 1200. Veterans were invited to bring their families, to fellowship with other veterans, and “enjoy a free meal.” Most importantly, the event was to serve as an enrollment drive for those veterans to whom medical benefits have been extended under the PACT Act of 2022.
Veterans who arrived in time for the opening of the expo could not immediately locate the event. After standing by in the main lobby for twenty minutes, one veteran approached the information desk and asked where the event was located. What everyone quickly realized is that no one who worked at the Ernest Childers Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic in Tulsa knew anything about any “Veterans Health Assistance Expo.”
No preparations had been made. Mass confusion ensued. One worker, LaShawn Baker, took charge of the situation and a makeshift “Veterans Health Assistance Expo” began to hastily unfold. But there were no extra staff on hand to share the additional tasking.
One veteran, who arrived at 0945, was led into a conference room at 1115 where a makeshift drink station had been set up on an office mail cart, which had no bottom, allowing lemonade and water to drip directly onto the floor from the dispensers sent up from the Canteen. At 1130, that veteran was brought into another room to be enrolled in the VA healthcare system. After a relatively smooth process getting some basic appointments scheduled, on the way out the door at 1230, the veteran saw a stack of pizzas being carried in, presumably on its way to the conference room.
Big VA simply decided that the Tulsa clinic would have an expo without telling anyone at the Tulsa clinic. Although the staff did the very best they could to help those who arrived, it is unknown how many disappointed veterans departed without being enrolled or having any services scheduled at all. It is shocking that this could ever be the first experience veterans have with the system which administers their healthcare benefits. It is hoped that the VA will take steps to ensure that something so discouraging never happens again.