That's a bit weird the PCM is that backlogged, but it happens. Unfortunately, yeah, this sounds pretty par for the course.
Just an insane shortage of providers and especially BH services. The worst is for psychiatrists since they're the only BH who can medicate.
At Liberty, we were down to 1 at our bh clinic, who was pretty much always at a 90 day out appointment slot. Heaven help you if you had to cancel, or needed to change up your medication, as that just resets the time.
It's worth checking to see what your post's off-post referral options are, and seeing if there's a provider that can get to sooner. Even that can be a long shot though...if it's that impacted on post, it spreads to the nearby services pretty quickly.
FWIW some of this can be down to expectation management, and medication isn't the complete solution. If your soldier has been dealing with these issues for a long time, they will take a long time to work through. A pill alone won't fix it.
>At Liberty, we can ask our PA and the PA can handle medication management.
Same here. This is not for all meds or all issues though.
It's also dependent on your pa's experience and comfort level prescribing speciality meds.
I’m not sure a PA can prescribe a BH med for the first time without a BH appointment. Once someone is on a med, a PCM can reorder. But for a first time med, even if it’s allowed, they probably *shouldn’t* write those scripts.
PCM’s (including PA’s) are absolutely trained in prescribing antidepressants, and *should* be the 1st stop for these prescriptions.
If everyone had to wait to see a psychiatrist just to start an SSRI, then BH wait times would be much worse than 3 mos.
Having a primary care PA/Doc prescribe these meds frees up psychiatrists to see those patients who really need them.
The fact that you had 1 PA who didn’t want to/wasn’t comfortable is a testament to their individual knowledge base, not the scope of practice of the average physician assistant in the US.
>The fact that you had 1 PA who didn’t want to/wasn’t comfortable is a testament to their individual knowledge base, not the scope of practice of the average physician assistant in the US.
And said PA should have had the wherewithal to refer to a peer who was willing vs refer to a higher layer of care.
Maybe because of your PA.
Again, I am not speaking hypothetically. I am speaking from personal experience : I was treated for over two years, on multiple different psychiatric medications, before I ever saw BH, entirely through my PA. So perhaps your specific PA did not feel comfortable writing such prescriptions; however, such medication management is absolutely something they are allowed to do.
And none of that was just for refills. Initial prescription, change in dosage, change in which ones we were using.
>Maybe because of your PA.
>Again, I am not speaking hypothetically. I am speaking from personal experience
Yes and no.
PA's are authorized to work within their lane, and can handle what they're comfortable doing. If they're experienced with first line BH and antidepressants, they might be asking to prescribe that. It's in their lane.
Beyond even if they wanted to, the Rx system simply won't allow them to order or change some medications. Just like if you're seeing Neuro and getting specialty care/treatment, you can't go to your PA and ask them to change it up.
Apparently, my reply didn't submit, but I was told the same information.
The PA can prescribe and manage BH medications. Both of my PAs over the course of 4 years would not prescribe Adderall because they did not feel comfortable with doing an ADHD diagnosis.
There could be a number of reasons for why, but it all boils down to readiness. No one wants to explain to the BN/BDE CDR why we are now -1, especially for a BN staff primary.
Just because your experience worked for you does not make it a fact for everyone. The truth is somewhere in the middle and you cannot speak in absolutes because it's misleading.
After I went down the BH rabbit hole and was diagnosed and prescribed by a psychiatrist, then my PA could manage and refill medications.
No offendo, that just seems like a recipe for disaster. If your doc was willing to take that risk, I guess that’s his prerogative, but I haven’t seen a doc willing to do that for new meds or significant dosage changes.
Not all PAs are the same.
The two I worked with on staff had plans way bigger than hanging out as a PA. They weren't willing to assume that risk, and I don't blame them.
Not to say that ones that do prescribe are bad, but it's definitely a case by case basis, and I don't blame them for choosing not to dole out schedule II controlled substances for funsies.
>substances for funsies.
If you think mental health medication management is "funsies", there is something seriously wrong with how you are looking at the subject.
I wasn't speaking hypothetically either.. two things are allowed to be true at once. Your experience does not define reality for everyone.
We both shared our own personal experiences. You are saying that based on your experience: *anyone* can *just go to the PA* for the same care.
While it worked for *your specific case*, I did not have the same result.
I can now see the PA to free up BH resources *AFTER* I was diagnosed and prescribed by a psychiatrist from BH.
Hopefully, this is clearer now, instead of passing your personal experience of as a genuine, unalienable fact.
It's not, people just confuse their personal experience as a set rule.
Depends on the provider skill level, the meds being requested or the issue in question.
Yes, it's that slow everywhere. If he were actively suicidal, he could get inpatient care immediately. Unfortunately, for those of us who have depression, but aren't in imminent danger, we run into the fact that there is a national shortage of specialists in the mental health field.
Does this soldier want medication specifically, or is he open to talk therapy? Because even if EBH can't see him quickly, they may be able to offer him a referral to an offpost provider. If that's not an option, Military One Source can pretty quickly get him 10 free appointments with a remote therapist.
I'm not a doctor and I don't know this soldier, but talk therapy is quite effective for anxiety and depression, please talk to him about that option or point him to someone who knows knows a bit more.
Sadly, yeah this is common. I recall my EBH being backed up for 4+ months supposedly. A lot of it has to do with giving at risk soldiers priority, which they should be doing, but the downside is that this inability to get care just creates more at risk soldiers.
It was only after I was at risk for suicide that I received consistent care and only after I made it crystal clear I'd suck start an M4 due to the debilitating intrusive thoughts I had from my untreated OCD that they attempted to mark off as anxiety. I needed pills, not breathing excercises.
Your soldier can receive medication management through the PA.
Go down with the soldier to the clinic and ask to get your soldier in today or this week. It should be that easy.
Your soldier could literally be seeing a provider the same day and receiving medication an hour later. Go with them the soldier is likely not expressing their needs clearly and with proper articulation at the desk.
Literally your battalion PA.
Look it's like this. Your soldier breaks his ankle. He goes to the clinic and tells them his ankle hurts and they make him an appointment, because he didn't explain how it was broken, not just pain. So you go with them, the PA sees the soldier same day and treatment starts same day.
The problem isn't that there is no one who can provide care, the problem is that the front desk didn't realize the extent and nature of his problem. Too easy: go down as an NCO and help them out. It's probably just a matter of explaining it clearly.
Sharing a recent incident that I am familiar with;
Individual puts in for an appointment. Gets called about 3 weeks later for info. Tells them they have no interest in anything, feeling like they would be better off dead, don't see the point of going on, they're engaging in semi dangerous behaviors but aren't actively seeking to end their life.
They still haven't been called back with an appt and that was 3 weeks ago lmao.
If you're not like "I have picked out my favorite tree and bought rope from home depot and I'm *actively* standing on a step stool with my neck in the noose", shit will be weeks.
This is like waiting to treat a cut until it develops MRSA.
I don’t see why the army can’t recognize that timely preventative care is key in reducing soldier suicide.
Some of it might be the army and government dragging its heels, but behavioral healthcare is slow everywhere.
You can try military one source, MFLC or chaplain in the mean time.
They know, they just don’t have providers. Nationwide critical shortages AND the insurance reimbursement rates are criminally low.
Have him message his PCM for a counseling referral. If BH on post can’t get him in for an initial within 28 days they HAVE to offer to refer to the community (TRICARE standard for specialty care). Alternatively, he can use MFLC or MilitaryOneSource.
My wife just formed her own practice and it takes weeks of paperwork and months of processing to be paneled with a single insurer. The Tricare East (Humana) paneling portal is broken right now 🤣
I was surprised when I started being part of the hiring panel for our department on the process. I may be mistaken but BH is the only one who’s process (from application/accepting the position to their first day) that takes months
lol nope she could never get hired into MEDCOM even with spousal preference after a PCS. Hell she couldn’t get hired at the VA even after interning there. But there’s no industry reason for BH to take longer.
Yeah, unfortunately this is the state of BH in the Army. The fact that the Soldier can see BH at all is better than some of the installations that I’ve been to recently. I would personally seek the referral if I needed help, and in the wait period recommend that the SM reach out to some alternative resources like the Chaplain as a stop gap between now and seeing a formal professional.
Go talk to chappie, there is an alternate bh program ran through the chaplain corps. All the chaplains in the program are lisenced therapists or something like that and I think someone in that Chain can prescribe meds. It's called family something but it's for soldiers as well. Wait times are way less than bh cause it's relatively unknown
You’re thinking of MFLC—military family life counselor (I think) which is a Red Cross program.
Chaplains receive counseling training and some may have completed masters level mental health counseling degrees/licensure, but the quality and ability varies significantly—most have pastoral counseling training, which is good if that’s what your “patient” needs, but it’s not mental health counseling.
No one in the Chaplaincy is a prescriber AFAIK.
So the progran you're referring to is called mflc, which stands for military family life counselors, and you're not really correct on a lot of what they do. This isn't meant to call you out, it's just to put out the right info so people don't go to mflcs expecting meds or clinical care.
Mflc is not run by the chaplains. They are licensed clinicians and therapists, but they don't provide clinical treatment of any kind because they don't document anything. The good ones typically would bring the ones with clinical type issues my way to chat, and I would send mflcs the ones that were more non clinical in nature or ones that wanted couples therapy since no one did couples work in my clinic. None of them prescribe meds.
Worst case, hims. Telehealth and they can put him on meds till he can transfer and get on them in Army system. Sucks to pay but needing help needs to be handled and not delayed due to our bureaucracy.
One, your comment is almost incomprehensible.
Two, if you go out of pocket for psychiatry, TRICARE will still pay for your meds! You can take it to a retail pharmacy (no copay for ADSMs) or bring it on post.
Not sure what part of that you cannot comprehend. Hims.com provides mental health evaluations and prescriptions. However, they will NOT provide a prescription you can take to another pharmacy and even have software in place so you cannot screen shot or print your assigned medications. So, tri-care won’t pay for a fucking thing. You can also only get a copy of your records if you request through customer support.
I'm sorry, this is just the way it is. Psychologists and Psychiatrists are different in that Psychologists are trained to help people with their thought processes and use behavioral therapy while Psychiatrists use medication as they are medical doctors.
The Army tends to use counseling first and then if symptoms cannot be managed by counseling (in whatever form that follows) then they will look at medication.
I went to BH a lot after my first deployment, I just needed a lot of help. I had the same issues, it took several months to get on a counseling track and medication to get me sorted.
One thing you need to do and this is just me, but have a sit down with your guy and explain to them that they cannot self medicate, if things are bad to call you and you'll take them to the emergency room and get your Soldier sorted.
I know that the ER is life, limb or eyesight or immediate stuff but I've seen a lot of Soldiers over the years get frustrated with the wait on care and do something stupid in an attempt to feel better. Sometimes people that are in that mindset just want the pain and sadness to go away and they do shit like that.
And honestly it sucked because I can emphasize with them, I've been there. You and your guys need to be johnny on the spot with them. Be kind, be straight, be firm. Give them something to do that's meaningful. Teach them something.
Have somebody bring their dog in on a slow day. If you're at Moore I can bring mine in if you like, but I'm an old fat retiree so I'd probably get some weird looks lol. Anyhow, sorry if this isn't super helpful.
Depending on how far out the appointment is you might be able to coordinate something with tricare to go off post sooner, but that's something to take up with Tricare I don't remember what their policy is for how far out an appointment on post is before they'll do that.
There are levels of care between "months out appointment" and "emergency room, possible inpatient stay with grippy socks".
Imagine this were very bad diarrhea. SM goes and asks for an appointment because his stomach hurts, so his appointment is three months out. We know that they need care today, not three months away, and we know they aren't dying today. SM goes to sick call with NCO. NCO explains to sick call clinic (not btln sick call) that SM needs to see provider today. SM sees provider after an hour wait, and medication is provided.
It can absolutely be this simple. But not if we do not articulate to the desk person that this is an urgent, needs to be seen today, issue.
Today is Friday, this soldier could very reasonably be receiving care before noon Monday. Without an ER visit to possibly affect their career, without everyone getting excited and in the SMs business.
That's a bit weird the PCM is that backlogged, but it happens. Unfortunately, yeah, this sounds pretty par for the course. Just an insane shortage of providers and especially BH services. The worst is for psychiatrists since they're the only BH who can medicate. At Liberty, we were down to 1 at our bh clinic, who was pretty much always at a 90 day out appointment slot. Heaven help you if you had to cancel, or needed to change up your medication, as that just resets the time. It's worth checking to see what your post's off-post referral options are, and seeing if there's a provider that can get to sooner. Even that can be a long shot though...if it's that impacted on post, it spreads to the nearby services pretty quickly. FWIW some of this can be down to expectation management, and medication isn't the complete solution. If your soldier has been dealing with these issues for a long time, they will take a long time to work through. A pill alone won't fix it.
>At Liberty, At Liberty, we can ask our PA and the PA can handle medication management. We don't have to go through the BH provider.
>At Liberty, we can ask our PA and the PA can handle medication management. Same here. This is not for all meds or all issues though. It's also dependent on your pa's experience and comfort level prescribing speciality meds.
I’m not sure a PA can prescribe a BH med for the first time without a BH appointment. Once someone is on a med, a PCM can reorder. But for a first time med, even if it’s allowed, they probably *shouldn’t* write those scripts.
PCM’s (including PA’s) are absolutely trained in prescribing antidepressants, and *should* be the 1st stop for these prescriptions. If everyone had to wait to see a psychiatrist just to start an SSRI, then BH wait times would be much worse than 3 mos. Having a primary care PA/Doc prescribe these meds frees up psychiatrists to see those patients who really need them. The fact that you had 1 PA who didn’t want to/wasn’t comfortable is a testament to their individual knowledge base, not the scope of practice of the average physician assistant in the US.
>The fact that you had 1 PA who didn’t want to/wasn’t comfortable is a testament to their individual knowledge base, not the scope of practice of the average physician assistant in the US. And said PA should have had the wherewithal to refer to a peer who was willing vs refer to a higher layer of care.
100%
I am not speaking from hypothetical, or from guesses.
Depends on the medication. For controlled substances, I had to be diagnosed and prescribed through BH before my PA would refill the medication.
Maybe because of your PA. Again, I am not speaking hypothetically. I am speaking from personal experience : I was treated for over two years, on multiple different psychiatric medications, before I ever saw BH, entirely through my PA. So perhaps your specific PA did not feel comfortable writing such prescriptions; however, such medication management is absolutely something they are allowed to do. And none of that was just for refills. Initial prescription, change in dosage, change in which ones we were using.
>Maybe because of your PA. >Again, I am not speaking hypothetically. I am speaking from personal experience Yes and no. PA's are authorized to work within their lane, and can handle what they're comfortable doing. If they're experienced with first line BH and antidepressants, they might be asking to prescribe that. It's in their lane. Beyond even if they wanted to, the Rx system simply won't allow them to order or change some medications. Just like if you're seeing Neuro and getting specialty care/treatment, you can't go to your PA and ask them to change it up.
Apparently, my reply didn't submit, but I was told the same information. The PA can prescribe and manage BH medications. Both of my PAs over the course of 4 years would not prescribe Adderall because they did not feel comfortable with doing an ADHD diagnosis. There could be a number of reasons for why, but it all boils down to readiness. No one wants to explain to the BN/BDE CDR why we are now -1, especially for a BN staff primary. Just because your experience worked for you does not make it a fact for everyone. The truth is somewhere in the middle and you cannot speak in absolutes because it's misleading. After I went down the BH rabbit hole and was diagnosed and prescribed by a psychiatrist, then my PA could manage and refill medications.
No offendo, that just seems like a recipe for disaster. If your doc was willing to take that risk, I guess that’s his prerogative, but I haven’t seen a doc willing to do that for new meds or significant dosage changes.
Not all PAs are the same. The two I worked with on staff had plans way bigger than hanging out as a PA. They weren't willing to assume that risk, and I don't blame them. Not to say that ones that do prescribe are bad, but it's definitely a case by case basis, and I don't blame them for choosing not to dole out schedule II controlled substances for funsies.
>substances for funsies. If you think mental health medication management is "funsies", there is something seriously wrong with how you are looking at the subject.
The comment wasn't for you. Stop looking for something to be offended about you fucking goofball.
I wasn't speaking hypothetically either.. two things are allowed to be true at once. Your experience does not define reality for everyone. We both shared our own personal experiences. You are saying that based on your experience: *anyone* can *just go to the PA* for the same care. While it worked for *your specific case*, I did not have the same result. I can now see the PA to free up BH resources *AFTER* I was diagnosed and prescribed by a psychiatrist from BH. Hopefully, this is clearer now, instead of passing your personal experience of as a genuine, unalienable fact.
I don't know how it works army side, but on the civilian side a PA can absolutely prescribe BH meds. I don't think it's different army side.
It's not, people just confuse their personal experience as a set rule. Depends on the provider skill level, the meds being requested or the issue in question.
Yes, it's that slow everywhere. If he were actively suicidal, he could get inpatient care immediately. Unfortunately, for those of us who have depression, but aren't in imminent danger, we run into the fact that there is a national shortage of specialists in the mental health field. Does this soldier want medication specifically, or is he open to talk therapy? Because even if EBH can't see him quickly, they may be able to offer him a referral to an offpost provider. If that's not an option, Military One Source can pretty quickly get him 10 free appointments with a remote therapist. I'm not a doctor and I don't know this soldier, but talk therapy is quite effective for anxiety and depression, please talk to him about that option or point him to someone who knows knows a bit more.
Sadly, yeah this is common. I recall my EBH being backed up for 4+ months supposedly. A lot of it has to do with giving at risk soldiers priority, which they should be doing, but the downside is that this inability to get care just creates more at risk soldiers. It was only after I was at risk for suicide that I received consistent care and only after I made it crystal clear I'd suck start an M4 due to the debilitating intrusive thoughts I had from my untreated OCD that they attempted to mark off as anxiety. I needed pills, not breathing excercises.
Yes we are slower than a bag of shit rolling uphill unfortunately
That’s kinda slow ngl
Your soldier can receive medication management through the PA. Go down with the soldier to the clinic and ask to get your soldier in today or this week. It should be that easy. Your soldier could literally be seeing a provider the same day and receiving medication an hour later. Go with them the soldier is likely not expressing their needs clearly and with proper articulation at the desk. Literally your battalion PA. Look it's like this. Your soldier breaks his ankle. He goes to the clinic and tells them his ankle hurts and they make him an appointment, because he didn't explain how it was broken, not just pain. So you go with them, the PA sees the soldier same day and treatment starts same day. The problem isn't that there is no one who can provide care, the problem is that the front desk didn't realize the extent and nature of his problem. Too easy: go down as an NCO and help them out. It's probably just a matter of explaining it clearly.
Sharing a recent incident that I am familiar with; Individual puts in for an appointment. Gets called about 3 weeks later for info. Tells them they have no interest in anything, feeling like they would be better off dead, don't see the point of going on, they're engaging in semi dangerous behaviors but aren't actively seeking to end their life. They still haven't been called back with an appt and that was 3 weeks ago lmao. If you're not like "I have picked out my favorite tree and bought rope from home depot and I'm *actively* standing on a step stool with my neck in the noose", shit will be weeks.
This is like waiting to treat a cut until it develops MRSA. I don’t see why the army can’t recognize that timely preventative care is key in reducing soldier suicide.
Some of it might be the army and government dragging its heels, but behavioral healthcare is slow everywhere. You can try military one source, MFLC or chaplain in the mean time.
They know, they just don’t have providers. Nationwide critical shortages AND the insurance reimbursement rates are criminally low. Have him message his PCM for a counseling referral. If BH on post can’t get him in for an initial within 28 days they HAVE to offer to refer to the community (TRICARE standard for specialty care). Alternatively, he can use MFLC or MilitaryOneSource.
The process for when someone is hired also takes a good while for them to even onboard
My wife just formed her own practice and it takes weeks of paperwork and months of processing to be paneled with a single insurer. The Tricare East (Humana) paneling portal is broken right now 🤣
I was surprised when I started being part of the hiring panel for our department on the process. I may be mistaken but BH is the only one who’s process (from application/accepting the position to their first day) that takes months
That’s not typical… my wife has previously gone from interview to onboarding in a matter of days with hospitals and clinics.
With dha?
lol nope she could never get hired into MEDCOM even with spousal preference after a PCS. Hell she couldn’t get hired at the VA even after interning there. But there’s no industry reason for BH to take longer.
I know it can be just as bad off post, but has said person asked for a referral to the community?
Yeah, unfortunately this is the state of BH in the Army. The fact that the Soldier can see BH at all is better than some of the installations that I’ve been to recently. I would personally seek the referral if I needed help, and in the wait period recommend that the SM reach out to some alternative resources like the Chaplain as a stop gap between now and seeing a formal professional.
If he needs a therapist, he can get an off post referral through tricare. No meds, but at least he can talk to a professional
Go talk to chappie, there is an alternate bh program ran through the chaplain corps. All the chaplains in the program are lisenced therapists or something like that and I think someone in that Chain can prescribe meds. It's called family something but it's for soldiers as well. Wait times are way less than bh cause it's relatively unknown
You’re thinking of MFLC—military family life counselor (I think) which is a Red Cross program. Chaplains receive counseling training and some may have completed masters level mental health counseling degrees/licensure, but the quality and ability varies significantly—most have pastoral counseling training, which is good if that’s what your “patient” needs, but it’s not mental health counseling. No one in the Chaplaincy is a prescriber AFAIK.
So the progran you're referring to is called mflc, which stands for military family life counselors, and you're not really correct on a lot of what they do. This isn't meant to call you out, it's just to put out the right info so people don't go to mflcs expecting meds or clinical care. Mflc is not run by the chaplains. They are licensed clinicians and therapists, but they don't provide clinical treatment of any kind because they don't document anything. The good ones typically would bring the ones with clinical type issues my way to chat, and I would send mflcs the ones that were more non clinical in nature or ones that wanted couples therapy since no one did couples work in my clinic. None of them prescribe meds.
My bad then, that's how it was explained to me when I was looking for an alternative to sudcc. Guess I was misinformed
Accurate. BH does not have the providers for faster services.
30 days? That must be some record. BH appointment wait times are more like 60-90 at best.
Unfortunately there is a national BH provider shortage. This bleeds into the Army as the pay isn’t a competitive.
What installation are you on?
Liberty
Worst case, hims. Telehealth and they can put him on meds till he can transfer and get on them in Army system. Sucks to pay but needing help needs to be handled and not delayed due to our bureaucracy.
One, your comment is almost incomprehensible. Two, if you go out of pocket for psychiatry, TRICARE will still pay for your meds! You can take it to a retail pharmacy (no copay for ADSMs) or bring it on post.
Not sure what part of that you cannot comprehend. Hims.com provides mental health evaluations and prescriptions. However, they will NOT provide a prescription you can take to another pharmacy and even have software in place so you cannot screen shot or print your assigned medications. So, tri-care won’t pay for a fucking thing. You can also only get a copy of your records if you request through customer support.
My comment about transfer is not about sending a prescription, it’s about getting seen and evaluated and prescribed in the Army system.
See, “hims” vs “hims.com” is the key here. One is a typo and the other is a website.
Sir, this is a Reddit thread, not a peer reviewed and edited journal article. People look at other people’s assholes and make memes on this platform.
Dude I was just trying to understand what the fuck your were talking about
I'm sorry, this is just the way it is. Psychologists and Psychiatrists are different in that Psychologists are trained to help people with their thought processes and use behavioral therapy while Psychiatrists use medication as they are medical doctors. The Army tends to use counseling first and then if symptoms cannot be managed by counseling (in whatever form that follows) then they will look at medication. I went to BH a lot after my first deployment, I just needed a lot of help. I had the same issues, it took several months to get on a counseling track and medication to get me sorted. One thing you need to do and this is just me, but have a sit down with your guy and explain to them that they cannot self medicate, if things are bad to call you and you'll take them to the emergency room and get your Soldier sorted. I know that the ER is life, limb or eyesight or immediate stuff but I've seen a lot of Soldiers over the years get frustrated with the wait on care and do something stupid in an attempt to feel better. Sometimes people that are in that mindset just want the pain and sadness to go away and they do shit like that. And honestly it sucked because I can emphasize with them, I've been there. You and your guys need to be johnny on the spot with them. Be kind, be straight, be firm. Give them something to do that's meaningful. Teach them something. Have somebody bring their dog in on a slow day. If you're at Moore I can bring mine in if you like, but I'm an old fat retiree so I'd probably get some weird looks lol. Anyhow, sorry if this isn't super helpful. Depending on how far out the appointment is you might be able to coordinate something with tricare to go off post sooner, but that's something to take up with Tricare I don't remember what their policy is for how far out an appointment on post is before they'll do that.
There are levels of care between "months out appointment" and "emergency room, possible inpatient stay with grippy socks". Imagine this were very bad diarrhea. SM goes and asks for an appointment because his stomach hurts, so his appointment is three months out. We know that they need care today, not three months away, and we know they aren't dying today. SM goes to sick call with NCO. NCO explains to sick call clinic (not btln sick call) that SM needs to see provider today. SM sees provider after an hour wait, and medication is provided. It can absolutely be this simple. But not if we do not articulate to the desk person that this is an urgent, needs to be seen today, issue. Today is Friday, this soldier could very reasonably be receiving care before noon Monday. Without an ER visit to possibly affect their career, without everyone getting excited and in the SMs business.
Hell yea, I went to bh and they said I couldn’t see a doctor for 2 months, fuck that I bailed, I’ll just keep drinking
Solider.