Emporia Va Clinic's Online Review Report Card

Calling the Emporia, VA Clinic for the first time and requesting an annual physical as a military retiree. I was told that I would be mailed the paperwork to be inducted into their system as a new patient. I explained that I have been a VA patient for almost 30 years in the Hampton, VA Hospital and have recently moved. The lady on the phone with me stated, ok, what address should we mail the forms? Back to the 13th Century.......Upon completion of the forms, snail mailing them to Emporia, Entering my data, I would then be able to schedule an appointment.

I moved from the West Coast to the East Coast in the summer of 2015, and, being a U.S. military retiree with TriCare Standard medical insurance, I started shopping for a new clinic, and went to this one. The lady who attended me at the front desk gave me two stacks of paperwork: one to fill out and return, and another to request a copy of my DD-214. Feeling brushed off, I decided to try McGuire V.A. Medical Center in Richmond, Virginia. The lady who attended me there offered me a seat and basically held my hand until I was enrolled in TriCare East.Then I went through the nut roll of trying to find a doctor who would attend me and honor my medical insurance, which I earned by retiring from the U.S. Military after more than twenty years of honorable service.Eventually, I received a letter from a clinic co-located at McGuire in Richmond, identifying itself as my new primary care provider, but, when I called to make an appointment for a physical exam, the man on the phone informed me that the closest V.A. clinic to me was apparently in Emporia, so I called the number I'm giving here.The lady who answered was very short with me, telling me they were not my primary care provider. When I explained that they were apparently the closest one to where I lived, she informed me that it was my choice, so I asked her if she knew of a closer V.A. clinic to me. She did not, so I asked her to make me an appointment, which, after putting me on hold for about five minutes, she told me would be at 8 a.m. on Feb. 24, 2016. I thanked her and hung up.At approximately a quarter to 2 p.m. on February 8, 2016, I received a letter from the V.A. informing me that a certain doctor in the town where I currently reside was my new primary care provider, and that I had an appointment at 2:15 p.m.The letter also told me to call a toll free number to reschedule, if I couldn't make it to my appointment. Since I only had a half hour to react, I called to reschedule. As recordings insulted my intelligence for twenty minutes, only to have someone finally seem unable to understand my name and hang up on me, I drove to the clinic mentioned in the letter, showed the lady at their front desk the letter with the authorization number, and made another appointment.Since this new appointment obviated the need for my appointment in Emporia on the 24th, I called them back. After recordings insulted my intelligence for about five or ten minutes, it sounded as if someone at this clinic in Emporia picked up the phone and sat it on the desk without answering or muting it, so I could hear people talking in their office. I yelled, "Hello!" numerous times, but, being ignored, I finally just hung up and decided to never call or return to this facility again.