The Hoptel -- Something the Government is doing Right

The Veteran's Administration is treating the veteran well in this respect.  If he needs medical attention at a Veteran's Hospital, and lives far away from the hospital, the VA will transport him AND give him lodging for the night.

The Veteran's Hospital in San Francico has converted some hospital rooms to hotel rooms and puts the veteran up free, and feeds him dinner.  They call this a "Hoptel" room....hospital and hotel.  I shared with two gentlemen for two nights.

I was concerned about the cost of the van and driver that the government must pay to transport me the eighty miles from Merced to San Francisco, until I discovered the VA had flown these vets from Michigan and Minnesota to be treated here.  San Francisco VA is a special center for the treatment of Parkinson's disease, and these vets needed adjustment to the implants they wear to control tremors.  They needed specialized treatment and were transported here for it, and transported home again after.

The only problem with rooming with these guys was that they were on Eastern time and Central time.  They went to bed and turned out the lights at SEVEN PM, And they woke with the Michigan crows at FIVE AM...San Francico time.  What seemed normal to them was ghastly for me. 

While there I was given full attention to my artificial eye replacement.  It was custom fitted and custom painted to match my good eye, and was done in one day.  It took all day.  David, the specialist, is an artist.  He looks carefully at your healthy eye and painsakingly copies it, including the tiny red veins on the whites of your eyes.  So far it has stayed in place, and looks like it will be a success.  David can also do noses and ears, or whatever the veteran needs.  It is very special work and vets come from all over the western US and Alaska for prosthesis.

The VA is treating the veterans right.