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First Coast Connect

Media Roundtable: Former VA Doctor Calls North Florida System 'Wasteful'

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

Wasteful and mediocre are the words one doctor is using to describe the health care being prescribed to veterans on the First Coast.The Florida Times-Union reports a North Florida physician says problems at area Veterans Administration hospitals and clinics have little or nothing to do with a lack of money or doctors.

Instead, the physician calls the management at North Florida VA hospitals an “insanely wasteful” one that breeds laziness, funnels patients to outside private practice physicians and allows most VA doctors to do the bare minimum every day.

The bottom line is that the system breeds mediocrity, says the doc, who is remaining anonymous from fear of retaliation.

Joining us on our regular Friday media roundtable to discuss this and other stories is our panel of local journalists:

Additional topics include the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling on using cell phone data as evidence without a warrant, gambling expansion in Florida and the U.S. men's national team's advancement to the knockout stage of the World Cup.

You can follow Melissa Ross on Twitter @MelissainJax.

Patrick Donges served as WJCT's Digital Content Editor from August 2013 - August 2014.