Omaha VA Medical Center

I've had good experiences and I've had bad experiences at this VA. They must have had some improvements to their staff training at some point in the last few years because it went from staff complaining about their co-workers on another shift, etc., to a more polite and caring tone, focused more on the patient. As a patient, you shouldn't be subject to the dirt and drama of the staff, who isn't doing their job, who told their spouse to pack up and leave, or whatever. I'm not a counselor, I'm a patient. They seem to have mostly fixed that at this location (hopefully it spreads to others). The rooms are nicer and practically indistinguishable from a civilian hospital. I woke up from surgery five years ago and thought maybe they moved me to military barracks. I had another surgery last year and I was pretty sure something went wrong and I was waking up at a different hospital (it didn't and I wasn't). So, kudos to whomever was responsible for that. Parking is still horrible. Time in the waiting room is still borderline ridiculous at times. The signs say to tell reception if you've been waiting x amount of minutes past your appointment but the best they can do is tell you why because you're still waiting. The downside of this facility is the same as every single VA facility - communication. You have to follow up and follow up and follow up with anything having to do with the VA or you WILL fall through the cracks, especially if you were referred to Veterans' Choice (Lucifer) for a procedure.
4 7 years ago (15-02-2018)

The staff at this facility is amazing. It probably did take a little longer than average to get in but that's not entirely this facility's fault. Everyone I've dealt with went above and beyond to make sure I was taken care of. I hope I don't have to come back anytime soon but if I do I'll be comfortable doing so.
5 7 years ago (04-05-2018)

The doctor didn't seem to care about the reasons i was there. I expressed concerns about my health and all the doctor seemed to want to do was give me ibuprofen and get me out the door. Complete waste of my time going to the appointment.
1 7 years ago (30-05-2018)

Dr. Fernandes had a very negative effect on his department. The negative effect of his inability to follow the rules of his institution were felt soundly and painfully by this veteran.
1 6 years ago (31-05-2018)

Had appt a 9am, showed up and checked in at 830am. Clerk said I needed labs and to go right over there. Waiting line for labs was 45 mins, lab procedure was 3 mins. Returned to Red Clinic to find that the clerk deleted my check-in because I needed labs. They took the 930am appt ahead of me. 935am returned to the clerk (because there's a sign that says if you haven't been helped in 15 mins notify clerk. Did it she said it would be a few more minutes. 1000am came in and checked with the clerk AGAIN. She went to the back and came out with the nurse right away. No one told her I was waiting. After nurse was done checking my vitals and history, waited another 20 minutes with her for the Dr. Dr. T had the sniffles and kept sneezing and scratching his runny nose during the exam Finally just used hand-sanitizer after everything was over (still didn't was his hands). This is so typical of the VA hospital. They don't care and even worse, don't do anything about complaints. Even the nurse stated the hospital does not listen to their complaints. The notification system, that REMINDS you of your appt, no longer tells you that you'll need labs and need to arrive early. Nurse said that hospital has a NEW program and won't fix that portion. How's a person to know? Perhaps adding the labs notice would be more effective than the fancy return notifications that were added for patients to complete. PLEASE get it together with some COMMON sense. Mark me as a VERY angry vet wasted half a day just to keep my eligibility. Nothing was needed other than that.
1 7 years ago (09-05-2018)