Christopher Goodman, a spokesperson for the hospital, said there was no indication Kaisen had shown up at the ER prior to his suicide, which took place at around 12.30pm on Sunday. “The impossibly long lines, the repeated calls for help that get you nothing more than an answering machine”, Obama said at the 7:45 mark of the video above.
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The reason for Mr. Kaisen’s suicide was not immediately known, but two people connected to the hospital told The Times he was angry after he was allegedly denied care in the emergency room for issues related to his mental health.
The unnamed worker added that “someone dropped the ball”, adding that staff “should not have turned him away”.
Kaisen, who served in the U.S. Navy from 1958 to 1962, had been a patient there.
“Maybe he can be used as an example to make things better”, said Farley, who spoke on behalf of the family.
His wife, Joan Kaisen, tells Newsday her husband suffered from severe back pain caused by an auto accident in the 1960s when he was a police officer.
One of the sources told how 76-year-old veteran shot himself inside his auto after being denied service in the ER.
According to a note posted on a funeral home’s website, Kaisen was married, had children and grandchildren.
The hospital is part of the Veterans Affairs medical system, which is the nation’s largest integrated health care organization, and which has been heavily criticized for poor service and mismanagement.
The FBI says this incident is under federal investigation because Northport VA is located on federal property.
“The employees here at Northport feel this loss deeply and extend their thoughts and prayers to all those impacted by this tragedy”.
Doctors and whistle-blowers from other VA hospitals came forward, citing long wait times and similar bookkeeping. A recent report exposed 1,700 veterans at a Phoenix hospital facing chronic wait times and were ‘at risk of being lost or forgotten’.
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Secretary Eric Shinseki resigned in May 2014 and was replaced by current VA Secretary Robert McDonald.
