A Tennessee congressman is calling a NewsChannel 5 investigation into veterans' health care "heartbreaking."
And Rep. Jim Cooper said it now may be time to get rid of the Veterans Administration health care system altogether.
This follows a report Monday that exposed how veterans are still facing long delays getting medical care.
"I wish I could flip a switch and they got better service yesterday," the Nashville Democrat told NewsChannel 5 Investigates.
Cooper said the kind of care the two former Fort Campbell soldiers profiled in our story got from the VA is not any way to treat our nation's veterans, and what he heard is prompting the longtime Congressman to call for major change.
"There have got to be ways to solve these problems," Cooper said.
As NewsChannel 5 Investigates first revealed, Melvin Oliver, who joined the Army shortly after the Vietnam War, was repeatedly misdiagnosed by VA doctors. It wasn't until he went outside the VA system that he discovered he had lung cancer that had spread to his brain.
"Needless to say, I was floored," Oliver said. "I was just in shock. Kind of hits you like a ton of bricks."
And despite having ongoing problems with his vision ever since his brain surgery, the VA told Oliver he couldn't get an appointment to see a doctor until October.
Then there's Dallas Brown, who served on the front lines in both Iraq and Afghanistan and suffered a traumatic brain injury.
He told NewsChannel 5 Investigates that after a medical discharge last year, the VA made him wait five months to see a doctor after he essentially stopped urinating.
"By the time we finally got in to them, they tell me, 'Oh well, your left kidney's dead and we're not going to worry about it and just come back in six months and we'll see how you're doing,'" Brown recalled.
In March of this year, his doctor finally agreed Brown needed a bladder scan ASAP. But the VA told him he had to wait until December to have it done.
"Honestly, I'm afraid. I'm afraid I'm going to end up having a stroke," Brown said, fighting back tears.
Cooper said "nothing is worse" than what they experienced.
"Nothing is a greater nightmare than to have a health problem that's not properly treated when you're owed the benefit. You're owed the quality medical care cause you served our country with distinction. You deserve top quality medical care," he added.
Cooper said he hopes that Nashville's Dr. Jonathan Perlin will bring much needed change to the VA health care system. Perlin, who is HCA's chief medical officer, was just appointed as a senior advisor to the new acting VA secretary Sloan Gibson.
But even Cooper acknowledged that it may take more to give veterans better medical care.
And when asked what he would do to make sure vets are taken care of, Cooper suggested essentially dismantling the VA health care system and sending vets to private doctors.
"The fastest comprehensive solution would be to give every veteran a voucher so they can go anywhere they want to go," the congressman explained.
"Now that's highly controversial with veterans advocacy groups cause they're worried about losing their system which they've been proud of for so many years."
But it may be time for such measures, he said, when veterans like Oliver and Brown, who was on the front lines in the War on Terror, now face an even tougher battle against the VA.
"It's very frustrating, but veterans should not have to face that frustration," Cooper said.
The national headquarters of the American Legion told NewsChannel5 Investigates that they are just as frustrated as Congressman Cooper, but they believe the VA is a system worth saving.
A spokesman for the veterans group said today they agree there are problems, but instead of getting rid of the VA, the American Legion supports vouchers only as a temporary fix.
Meanwhile, the VA here in Nashville told NewsChannel5 Investigates they had "reached out" to both veterans in our story and are working with them to get them the care they need.
Dallas Brown told us he did get a call from the VA's public relations person telling him the director is concerned and "looking into the situation."
But that was it.
Meanwhile, Melvin Oliver told us he has heard nothing.
Related story: Vets Say Fight For Health Care May Be Toughest Battle
