FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — Leaders at Atlanta's veterans' hospital are working to find out why a former Marine's surgery was pushed back twice in two months.
For more than two years, Channel 2 investigative reporter Aaron Diamant exposed a list of issues affecting patient care within the VA healthcare system.
The entire VA system is still reeling over the fallout from a massive scandal involving patient wait times.
Over the last few months, Diamant has received several calls from veterans complaining that their surgeries keep getting pushed back.
One finally agreed to talk.
For U.S. Marine veteran Edward Murray, even getting up and down the stairs in his home is an ordeal.
"It hurts. It's not a good pain," Murray said, telling Diamant his pain is even excruciating at times.
Doctors at the Atlanta VA Medical Center diagnosed back problems, but a second opinion from a private doctor also discovered acute problems with his hip.
"They did miss it. I mean, I'm not trying to put them down, but they did miss it," Murray said.
Murry was eventually scheduled for hip replacement surgery at the Atlanta VA back in May, but it got canceled just days before and rescheduled for early June. That got canceled just days out, too.
The explanation Murray said he got by phone each time: No surgeons available.
"It's disheartening. I mean, I'll go any time the want me to, you know, I just want it fixed," Murray said.
Murray told Diamant he's now on the board for next week.
"You're getting emotional. Tell me why," Diamant said to Murray.
"Well, part of it is that it hurts and the other part is you're a veteran, you're not supposed to be complaining," Murray said.
"You can understand why this man was in tears," Diamant said to Dr. David Bower, the Atlanta VA Medical Center chief of staff.
"Yeah, and as I said, I will look into that case individually and try to figure out what happened," Bowers promised. "It's not our standard."
In the meantime, Murray hopes the VA's light for his surgery stays green.
"Marines do cry just like everybody else," Murray said.
Bower told Diamant he wasn't sure how many surgeries end up getting postponed at the Atlanta VA Medical Center, but said he'll look into that too.
He did say the Atlanta VA is in the process of expanding its facilities and working to hire 500 new employees, including dozens of doctors over the next year.
WSBTV
