Approximately 22 veterans commit suicide everyday. If this statistic isn’t sobering on its own, consider that some of those veterans commit suicide at the very health facilities that are supposed to help them.
Last Thursday, Gary Dorman, a disabled military veteran and former patient of the Philadelphia VA hospital, leapt to his death from the hospital parking garage minutes after leaving the waiting room.
According to witnesses, Dorman was seeking psychiatric treatment when he visited the hospital, but he was escorted out of the waiting room by security after he attempted to enter a “restricted section.” Afterwards, he climbed the stairs to the third level of the parking garage to commit suicide. Dorman’s shoes were reportedly knocked off his feet by the force of the impact.
The Philadelphia VA is notorious for its dysfunction and scandal. It is the same veterans healthcare system where VA executives Diana Rubens and Kimberly Graves conned the entire agency out of millions in a job-switch scheme. It is also same healthcare system where a psychiatrist infamously told a veteran to ‘off himself.’
The Office of the Inspector General rightfully named the Philadelphia VA the “most problematic” VA health system in the country. Dorman’s tragic death is further proof that the hospital’s problems are directly hurting the veterans it serves. The only system that can compete with Philadelphia’s level of dysfunction is the Phoenix VA Hospital System, which also had a suicide on its campus in May.
The Philadelphia VA issued an official statement on Friday:
We’re saddened to learn of the loss of a Veteran on our campus yesterday. On behalf of the Department of Veterans Affairs, we extend our deepest condolences to the veteran’s family, friends and neighbors. They are in our thoughts and in our prayers. VA is committed to caring for all of our Veterans, their families and communities.