Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center

I’ve worked here for ten months and it has been quite the negative experience. It seems every department is mismanaged as all anyone ever does is complain. I tried to have a positive outlook despite the negativity, but it wears on you. You try to make things better, but suggestions are thrown under the bus. The waste that goes on is enormous. I think this is due partly to an outdated DOS based system from the early 80’s. Could this be because the VA is not getting the money it needs to update their processes? Is the Richmond VA on the bottom of the totem pole for funding? I hope things change and soon.

I don’t know what’s going on at this facility but nobody ever, and I mean EVER, returns your call in a reasonable time — not even Patient Advocacy. It shouldn’t take weeks and several messages to get a response. It’s not like my health is all that important. Plus I’ve had an appointment for a major procedure canceled and never notified about it. I’ve had ghost appointments set up and when I call in about it nobody knows what’s going on. Employees act like they’ve never used a computer to look up a patient’s history. The default excuse they’ll give you for everything is they’re extremely busy or backed up this time of the year. Well cry me a river but that’s no excuse for incompetence… Other VA hospitals are just as busy but find a way to call patients back in a timely fashion and don’t have as many issues going on as HHM. And my God, if Patient Advocacy doesn’t do right by the patient how can I expect the rest of the hospital to do right?

My only experience here at the McGuire VA Medical Center facility was to receive administrative services at the Center’s Centralized Registration Center, in the main entrance area. I was provided service in a very efficient and friendly manner. The clerk who assisted me was polite, respectful and treated me like a customer. I arrived ten minutes after the Centralized Registration Center opened (their hours are 0700 – 1630 on each business day), and I was the second person to be helped there on 9÷25÷2013. The paperwork that I needed to have them complete on my behalf required 25 minutes of staff time, and with only one clerk on duty at that time, early in the day, a significant line of five new customers formed up while I was being served. If I need to return there for future business, I will not hesitate, but, I will again try to get there at the very beginning of the business day to avoid lines. The visitor parking is about three blocks away from the main entrance, and one should expect it to take about ten minutes to park, walk to the main entrance, and locate the Centralized Registration Center.

As a medical student, I rotated at this hospital, along with other hospitals including VCU Medical Center and the VA Medical Center in Philadelphia. I would have to say that this was the worst of the hospitals that I rotated at in terms of environment, food options, and attitude of nurses and ancillary staff. On the flip side, the physicians here with whom I worked were quite friendly and good teachers. The hospital operates at a laid back pace which makes it a comfortable place to work. Unique to the Richmond VA, there is a Spinal Injury center not seen at other VA hospitals.
If you’re getting treatment here, it’s probably because the cost is covered for you somehow. If you’re paying, find a better place to go.