Marine says VA let him down when he needed surgery

A local Marine Corp veteran tells ABC-7 he ran into numerous issues recently while trying to get the El Paso VA to do a much-needed neck surgery.

Frustrated with the situation and in a lot of pain, he set out on his own to get the surgery, using Medicare and AARP.

“They’re supposed to back up our troops,” Mendoza told ABC-7, referring to the VA. “I feel sorry for these poor kids that are coming back now, because if an old fart like me ain’t getting taken care of … “

The 63-year-old Mendoza served in the Marine Corp from 1970 to 1974. But when it came time for the VA to serve him when neck and back pain left him unable to walk this year, he says they let him down.

“Since June the pain has progressively gotten worse,” Mendoza said. “I went through all their channels. I went through patient advocate and the whole nine yards and nothing came out of it.”

Mendoza said he was scheduled to have surgery through the VA at William Beaumont Army Medical Center back in mid-October. However, he said he was told that his hemoglobin was too high and the surgeon cancelled the surgery. He waited for a new date for his surgery, but says he never received it from the VA. That’s when he took matters into his own hands.

“Nobody wanted to pick up the pieces,” he said.

Mendoza went to a private doctor and used Medicare and AARP to finally have neck surgery at a surgical hospital in East El Paso this week.

“There’s going to be some expense, I’m sure,” he said. “But it’s worth it. I mean, I can, I can walk.”

“It just shows a big disconnect between what’s going on at the VA and the veteran himself,” said El Pasoan David Nevarez, who is also a Marine Corp veteran who chairs the City of El Paso’s new Veterans Affairs Advisory Committee.

Four years ago, Nevarez says he found himself in a similar situation with the VA, in need of knee surgery.

“VA ortho was about three months behind,” Nevarez said. “This surgery couldn’t wait and I paid out of pocket.”

Nevarez said it’s cases like his and Mendoza’s that highlight the problems with the VA.

“I think there needs to be some sort of neutral body to help police the VA,” Nevarez said.

The El Paso VA does not comment on specific cases, but officials did send this statement: “The goal continues to be to provide veterans the timely, high quality healthcare they have earned and deserve — care provided directly by VA or in partnership with department of defense and community providers. Veterans’ emergency concerns are addressed expeditiously.”