On the ground, but an iteam review found af handful them were corrected before hymelsri arl. You have leaks in the roof and you have concerns about the building itself. How do you fix that . It takes time. It takes scheduling of funding. Hymel is trying to hire more employees that has haunted the Medical Center for o be cancelled and what can we change in the process so it doesnt happen tomorrow. Whilemployeesd. Our staff has beent e througn awful lot. They know the ig reports out there. They see pieces in th a media staff gets beat down over that. A few months after that interview the iteam began hearing from other insiders including current employees who felt they needed to speak out about progress being made. Youre a veteran, do you receive care there . I do, but i will not get any. Striking words from who know first hand who its like inside this hospitalroom. After that incident, the internal va records show staff were retrained to better identify escape risks and tamperresistant fasteners were put on the Ceiling Tiles and they plan to install locks on the covers and the patient was hospitalized in virginia aer being charged by police, but he has since been released. Problems not just inside the d. C. Va and also outside as veterans struggle to make their appointments with the parking crunch and later the secretary of the va sits down with us to talk improvements and plans for the troubled hospital. Well be right bac change has many faces. Names youll never know. The brighteyed, aces. The brave, ie the visionars. Where challenges exist, youll find them. At citi, we empower people who are out to change thworld. Because tomorrow belongs to those who welcome it with open arms. Citi. Welcome whats next we like drip coffee, layovers and waiting on hold. What we dont like is relying on fancy technology for help. Visnail mail we were d to a y2k party. Uh, didnt that happen, like, 20 years ago . Ok oh, karolyn, weve got a mathematician on our hands check it out now you can schedule a callback or reschedule an appointment, even on nights and weekends. Todays xfinity service. Simple. Easy. Awesome. Id rather not. It was a story about the local va hospital that really stuck with a lot of viewers. Veteransug sing to stand or get around and often forced to walk long distances just to see their doctors. Why . Because of a huge parking problem facing the Medical Center here in d. C. Getting most places takes just aittle longer for sequoia pointer these days. When you have a traumatic situationappen to you, you just you just dont recover as fast as they think. Three decades after serving the u. S. Army pointer is fighting another battle. Hes recovering from a stroke, use his struggles to left arm and leg. You set aside 30 minutes just to find parking. Just to find parking, yes. 30 minutes. Yes, at least 30 minutes. Getting to his appointments recently at the d. C. Va Medical Center has turned into aesson in patience. They watched him unload his scooter and make the long trek fromhe back of theot to get through. Hell have to fight traffic and fight for a parking space and to go awherever theyre goig and ive walked those halls with him theyre long. When we met Jonathan Warwick he was trying to navigate a hill. You just had two hips replaced and you have a fractured ine. Did it occur to you i shouldnt be walking this far to get to my doctor . In a sense, yes, i shouldnt. I shouldnt have to be walking. The news 4 iteam found patient after patient forced to walk long distances after a long search for a spot. Just how far . We measured from the back row to the front door, me than three and a half football fields each a third of a mile round trip. The parking lot access isha something t we hear about a t. Heather ansly of paralyzed veterans of america says this is a growing complaint at va Medical Centers. A parking challenge means some veterans may not even be trying to go. Internal va records obtained by the iteam show theyve been aware of this problem calling t anunacceptable deficiency and identifying dozens of other parking iss at Medical Centers nationwide. There is ts big list of needs nationwide. Does that surprise you . Unfortunately, no. Some good news in april when the dc va opened a garage next to the hospital es a shuttle to carry vets with mobility issues to the front door when this news 4 iteam special returns. He someone is going to be first. Someone is going to make waves. Someone is going to blow up the game. Someone going to reinvent a assic. Someone is going to start from scratch. Ng someone is go break barriers. Someone is going to do that thing you really, really want to do. It might as well be you. The director of the dc advise va Medical Center says there have been positive developments espeally with supply shortages and the sterilization of equipment. The Inspector General of the u. S. D affairs charged we centecenter says a Progress Report will come in at the end of thi the secretary of veteran affairs says progress is being made at the Medical Center and he did so in a rect sitdown interview with the iteam where he talked about the va and about this facility. The good news about d. C. And youve certainly covered it for the last few years, is that the ratings have gone up. Its now no longer a onestar facility. Its a twostar facility and we have a dedicated Womens Health clinic. Ou mortality rates are as good or better as any in metropolitan washington, d. C. , and that is a huge step forward. We finally put in place permanent leadership. I cant spe to the crises that you reported on in the last fewe s. I wasnt here, but i can tell you that we are focusing on d. C. It should behe t flagship, and i do think it has improved greatly. The permanent director you referenced sayss is a fix that will take years, not months. Does that sound acceptable . Well, i dont know. I didnt see that comment, but i hope it doesnt, and its my goal across the country to make sure that those things dont happen. What do you say to the d. C. Veterans . What i say to the d. C. Veterans is first, thank you for volunteering to serve your country. Come to us, tell us what you see that is right and tell us what you see that is wrong. This is not your grandfathers va anymore. We are changing with the population ofet vans. The news 4 iteam would also like to hear from you. Many of the stories that youve seen come fromveteran, from their families and from employees at the department of veterans affairs. If you have something that we should be investigating with the va. Call us at 2028854444 or send us an email at tips at news 4 iteam. Com. Thats tips at news 4 iteam. Com and make sure you visit our nbc washington app. Simply look for investigations. From our entire news 4 iteam and the women and men of nbc 4 we thank you for joining us for this speci report. This is how driving should feel. The techadvanced niss leaf. The best selling electric vehicle of all time. This is nissan intelligent mobility. Uz z3d2 z16fz y3d2uy y16fy