Many Montanans who served their nation in the military and now seek medical care through local VA hospitals were told over the past week that they would only have access to "telehealth" services if they were wanting an appointment with a Doctor. The VA continues to lose staff and the VA hospital in Helena, Montana is no different. Dr. Tracey Richardson, MD is no longer providing services to Veterans previously under her care.
As a result of losing Dr. Richardson, patients assigned to the "Lynx Team," which is how healthcare teams in Helena are organized, have been "re-assigned to telehealth provider, Dr. Udayakumar Kathaiyan, MD." It appears this Doctor is in Salt Lake City, UT. The notification letter sent to impacted Veterans states that "An in-person clinic visit with your doctor may be available on occasion."
These notices come at a time when the VA is under scrutiny for focusing on illegal alien health care while America's Veterans stand in line. Many elderly veterans prefer in person care and not to deal with online meetings due to lack of familiarity with the technology, or lack of trust in online systems. Many health diagnoses are also a challenge to confirm through web conferencing. This notice means added time and bureaucracy to an already top-heavy and bureaucratic system that focuses more on retaining its funding rather than on providing effective patient services. This could be why Veterans who the Montana Sentinel talked to say they do not like how Senator Jon Tester is such a big fan of funding a bloated bureaucracy to endear himself to Veterans, but not concerned about the actual Veterans to whom he panders.
*** There are a number of professional and patient focused medical staff in Helena's VA hospital, but they are often limited by VA rules out of their control.
