HAMPTON, Va. - For years, Fox43 News has received complaint calls concerning conditions and patient care at the Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center in Hampton.
Two wars and a rising population of veterans have increased the patient load at the sprawling complex. VA administrators say patient visits are up 10 percent over the last year.
"I don't see that the workload growth will decrease," Director DeAnne Seekins told Fox43 News in December. "It has continued to increase."
Seekins has worked for 25 years with the Department of Veterans Affairs at five VA Medical Centers. She has been at the Hampton VA Medical Center for six months.
"Coming into Hampton, I knew one of the challenging areas was going to be customer satisfaction and patient satisfaction," said Seekins. "Since I have experience in that area, I was excited for that challenge."
Her challenge is one Virginia Senator Jim Webb (D), a veteran and former Secretary of the Navy, recognizes.
Last October, after receiving nearly 150 complaints in less than three years into his office, Webb called on the Department of Veterans Affairs to conduct a thorough investigation of the Hampton VA. His office tells Fox43 News the number of complaints is now almost 200.
"When you have 400,000 visits a year, when you have 1,600 employees, things don't always go perfectly," Webb told WAVY News 10.
But Seekins has a different view. "I think much of this is perception--patient perception," she said in December.
When asked if things like a misdiagnosis or a wrongful death is really "perception," Seekins responded: "I want to answer this question because there is always another side of the story, and so these were definitely issues that happened prior to my time and I don't want to get into specific cases because that's patient privacy."
One month following that interview, Fox43 News received an email from a veteran.
"It's a serious matter and it could have been life threatening," said Lance Corporal Matthew Gallihugh.
Gallihugh, 20, served in the Marine Corps and says he is now battling the Hampton VA Medical Center.
According to Gallihugh, on December 20 he had severe stomach pains.
"The pain was really hot, my whole stomach, and it was really tight and sensitive over here."
Gallihugh called the Hampton VA Emergency Room.
Fox43 News obtained a medical record of the call. It lists five serious illnesses including "acute appendicitis" as potential diagnoses.
A nurse recommended Gallihugh go to the Hampton VA's emergency room.
According to more medical records obtained by Fox43 News, Gallihugh was discharged a few hours later with a diagnosis of "peptic acid," also known as heartburn.
Gallihugh says he pleaded with a VA doctor.
"I had told him it feels like it's really on fire, he said. "It's not heartburn."
On the way home, Gallihugh claims he began throwing up and became so sick that his girlfriend took him to a civilian emergency room.
"They came out and said, 'OK, I think it's really your appendix. We're going to do surgery tomorrow,'" Gallihugh said.
"Acute appendicitis" was the same documented possible diagnosis Gallihugh received on the phone with the Hampton VA Emergency Room. A diagnosis, he says, was missed while he was physically there.
"I believe that the Veterans Hospital should be held, at least, to the same equivalent level as a regular hospital."
Gallihugh says his medical bills totaled nearly $30,000, but through financial assistance, he was able to get them dropped to around $10,000.
Still, he says "I've been out of work three weeks with no pay and I'm going to really struggle to pay these bills."
For three weeks, Fox43 News reached out to the Hampton VA through phone calls and emails for answers. It took a while for them to repond, but they eventually did.
Hampton VA representatives did meet with Gallihugh, where he was told there was a "deviation of care" and, while the VA wanted to pay his medical bills, they could not.
It turns out, according to the Hampton VA, Gallihugh wasn't eligible for treatment there, despite having a VA Medial Card, and having been treated at the VA for two years.
"They either use this bar code here, or on the backside," Gallihugh said. "They swipe it and it pulls up all your doctor's information and let's you check in."
The Hampton VA wouldn't explain these discrepancies; but Public Affairs Officer Sheila Bailey did issue this statement to Fox43 News:
"Our Chief Medial Officer and Associate Director met with Mr. Gallihugh...to answer all of the patient's questions."
Then, 48 hours before this investigation was scheduled to air, the VA began asking patients with positive experiences to call Fox43 News.
"Ms. Woodrow this is Mr. Ruffin the VA wanted me to talk with you," said one caller.
Four of the patients who called agreed to an interview with WAVY News 10, but only CPO Bob Pittenger showed up.
"They had contacted me to contact you," said Pittenger, a Hampton VA patient since 1993 who described his interaction with the nurses and
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