Military Health Care

We got spoiled the four years we were in Germany where health care was concerned. Especially the ability to access that care. Yeah, I worked in the clinic there so didn't really have to worry about busy phone lines or things of that nature, but I did follow the rules about making appointments.

The access to care here at Womack stinks! The first time the hubby made an appointment to see his primary care provider there - he had to wait a month between the time he called and the actual time of the appointment. I disenrolled from Tricare Prime shortly after we got here so that the kids and I could get our care at our old family clinic - the place my dad ran for 20 years and where I used to work. I'm willing to pay a bit out of pocket for the peace of mind for good continuity of care. Well, the hubby had been going there for his care as well. Much easier to get in to be seen, often within the same day if needed. Everything was fine for a few months, until he got a phone call from Tricare shortly after his motorcycle accident around the end of March. So they told him he had to stop going to our family clinic.

He was running low on his medications, so he called out to Womack last week to make an appointment. I was shocked when he told me he was able to get an appointment for today. Maybe things are getting better.

Apparently not.

He spent three freaking hours out at Womack today. His primary care physician is leaving the Family Medicine Clinic, and they don't know who's going to take his place. So much for continuity of care. I guess PA he saw had to leave the room two or three different times to run things by his boss. I found that kind of odd. Or maybe this PA's just new and inexperienced. Then he tells the hubby he wants him to be seen at the Pain Clinic. The hubby has been through this whole rigamarole before. So P goes to the specialty referral center to get his appointment like he was told to do, and after about 45 minutes of waiting there, they tell him that the Pain Clinic makes their own appointments. So he didn't get that done.

By the time he got back to the office after 2:00 this afternoon (his appointment was at 10:40), he had a terrible migraine. Is it any wonder? So he managed to cut loose from the office a bit early this evening and has been lying down to try to get rid of it.

Womack is supposedly one of the best in the system. I beg to differ.