Fort Harrison VA Medical Center

David Marcelli

2024-02

You show up and your appointment is canceled. You go to dental to make an appointment in October and it's February and you're still waiting after going in in January and asking for an appointment a second time. They (VA) can and should do better.

Ol-Durty- Badger

2023-09

Compared to other VA facilities, Fort Harrison is excellent. The VA is always expanding and adding to their facility so they have grown quite a bit on the last 10 years to accommodate Veterans better. The technology aspect with reminder emails and phone calls are usually pretty accurate and much faster than mail, but it does occasionally mess up.

Ted Hall

2024-04

Great medical staff. Friendly and concerned. Very through. Possibly the best care in any state.

Ronald Voigt

2023-08

These people don't treat you or care for you but they will lie about you lie to you and believe me when I say it is the employee who has the favor and considerations not the vet. The employees here at ft. Harrison despise veterans and they will treat you accordingly. If you seek help from a congressmen don't choose tester as he has no testies and will do less than zero to help you. Because of the lack of care I received from these clowns I no longer feel good about my service and have burned every uniform trophy or award I've ever earned while in the navy. I actively try to make others aware that they will get no care after service and that it is best not to serve at all. I'll not defend a country that does this to its vets. On the obverse, I don't like you the government and now you have an agitated honey badger waiting. Now as of the end of July ft. Harrison has fired for cause the female diversity hire director who has managed wreck the parked car that is the VA. I sincerely hope none of y'all end up getting your coffee or fries from this evil wrongdoer

Robin Morgan

2023-07

ED physician Dr Howard has the bed side manner of a rock....condescending as hell and doesnt listen to patient and family......ED reception staff are too busy cussing and having personal conversations loudly and ordering door dash to worry about why records haven't been sent yet. I am a 27yr nurse with VA employment experience. Never in my life have I encountered such rude and disrespectful people in a VA setting as I have today!!!!

Keith Montegna

2023-04

Why is it that when I review all the VA's in Montana that the reviews show many many veterans don't like their care in this state.I have been to many many VA's around this nation and my opinion is that fort Harrison is by far, the worse. Bottom 10% I had a MD doctor and passed out in front of him and he didn't know what to do. Really? Good forbid if I had a heart attack.The nurses talk down to you like they are superior to you. Excuse me, if you are so superior, why don't you join the military? After my "non care" I have decided to file a "DNR".

Rachel O'Neil

2023-07

My name is Daniel hardesty. I hope ems has fixed their issues. I'm a veteran 70 percent connected. Worked for VA for 2.5 yrs. I wanna thank Dr.Richard Schultz. From behavior health. Amazing Dr and has probably saved my life on more than one occasion. As a 38 year old Afghanistan vet. Combat mos. I appreciate the veiw point and professionalism from him because he's the same. Sorcey is a a corrupt ex cop working for ems now Stacy and him are corrupt.

Weston Trapp

2021-04

To preface: I have been in Montana for the winter and had to move my cancer treatments from the Denver VA to the Ft. Harrison VA. While I will say that the Ft. Harrison facility is not the $20 million over budget accommodations that the Denver VA enjoys ... Ft. Harrison's staff is where this VA Hospital really shines. Every staff member from the moment you walk in the door in genuine, engaged, friendly, and truly invested in helping patients. It's been truly enjoyable working through an extremely challenging time in my life with the Ft. Harrison Team. Thank You! And special thanks to the phone operator and on-call RN (hopefully you know who you are) who made sure I made it to my last procedure and treatment, in addition to the General Surgery and Oncology Team! ... Going to miss y'all!

Glo Childs

2022-04

The front desk lady in dental didn’t check us in when she saw us walking in. Instead she said hi and that she’ll be right back. She had to say “Hi” to a friend first. Can you believe that? We arrived 20 minutes early, it has already been 15 minutes now and she hasn’t returned. My husband’s appointment is in 5 minutes. I had to leave the room to find someone who can help us find somebody to check him in. By which time she came back saying she had to go to the bathroom (whatever). Still have to get an act of Congress to make things happen for these veterans. It’s very sad! If you’re wondering why it takes months and months for the VA dentist to look at your file and make approval decisions, it’s because according to this dentist he is the only dentist there and since he’s the only one he sees a lot of patients on a daily basis. Basically, he doesn’t have the time to look over files & make referrals because he is overloaded with patients. I mean it took 3 months to get an emergency appointment with him but when we got there he told us he’s doing just an exam. If it was just an exam we wouldn’t have drove 4 hours and on top of that we didn’t get any travel reimbursement for the hotel. Apparently, in order to get that your appointment time has to be before 9 AM and after 3 PM. So arrange your appointment time around those times if you need to book a room and I think they said the hotel has to be approved by the VA.

Franklin Rollheiser

2022-04

I have a degree in Healthcare, as well as business , so my views may not be particularly unbiased. But I went out of my way to use Ft. Harrison, driving the hour and a half from Great Falls, and I'm glad I did. I had a rather awkward sonogram done, but the tech who conducted it did so with the utmost of professionalism and discretion such that it put both of us at ease. Maybe she is the exception to the rule, but I wish the Great Falls facilities were lucky enough to retain such staff. I don't know if your facility hands out kudos, but it would be nice if someone could trace my chart back to my visit and extend to her my sincere thanks.

Vicki Howard

2023-04

The nurses work hard and are committed to giving the veterans they serve excellent care. The doctors and nurses work as a Team. I am a Veteran and nurse at the hospital. The employees care about the veterans and their families. I See it everyday at Work. It is a Honor to serve our veterans!

Robert Sara

2023-11

everyone has always been very helpful I owe my life to them and the fact they do care.

William Sinclair

2022-04

For the past 29 years I have used VA Health CAre at Ft Harrison but no longer will use the facility. It dangerous and they do not care about patients, always want to blame the patient, and staff in general DO NOT CARE. I even asked for appointment to discuss my care with Director, Chief of Staff and PrimRy Care Director verbally and in writing and they never responded. Had a patient advocate contact me and when she found out I was a retired senior officer she suggested that I use my TriCare and go somewhere else.In the past 3 years I have been misdiagnosed cancer, broken disc stuck in root of L 3/4 nerve, and turned away initially by primary care (Mallard). Mallard team was rude, non helpful and even threatened to stop VA payment for a massive chest infection that required open chest surgery at a local hospital after I called the VA Hotline.Not to labor each case but I saw primary care twice and surgery clinic Drs 2 times and lump on face continued to grow. While in AZ, walked into Mayo Phoenix and clinic and they moved schedules and had surgery within a week. When I called Helna VA Center bad inquired about VA assistance was told you are on your own, no assistance or recommendation. Thanks to Tri West who gave approval for VA. After coming back to Helena I went to primary team Mallard and asked her, the Primary Care Provider different times for referral to Onocology which Mayo recommended to ensure the malignancy had not spread. Her answer was always go back to where you had it done. After requesting a follow up with the MD at Pika and he gave the same answer. Pathetic response. Finally the new Dr at Pika referred me and I got in 2 years after surgery.The ruptured disc experience has was a worse experience than the cancer. A protruding disc from a helicopter accident that I had treated prior at VA Helena shattered while coming out of surgery at Mayo Phoenix. Mayo cleaned out the pieces and all was well for 5 month. In Dec 2019 the piece of disc remaining turned and stuck into the root ofL 3/4 nerve on the right side. After going to VA Emergency room in a wheel chair and given pills, no CAT scan or anything. Living alone I was crawling everywhere I went within my house or outside. I asked the PA in emergency room for a wheel chair and it was declined.Because of the pain two days later went to St Peters hospital in Helena. Took CAT Scan, gave me what I found out later was misdiagnosed and more habit forming drugs and sent me out the door. Went back to VA the next day at 0800 hours and finally saw a real DR. The pain was bringing involuntary tears. After going through a30+ minute question period about my will and who could make decisions for me I was finally given morphine and moved to a room. Other than a Dr friend in another department I did not see a Dr until the next day after I finally had an MRI taken. After the Sr told me it would take 60-90 days for a referral I was Appt for pain management for 90 days later, an appt withTeam Mallard abs PA in Ortho for a week later. Being single I was wheeled to the door and made it to my vehicle and drove home. I was crawling g around my home to survive, when I stood up I would fall. The next morning I call VA MT at the number (floor desk) the attending Nurse Practitioner left on his card. The older lady who answered the phone claimed I was never in the hospital and I was not getting anything else and “TO NEVER CALL VA MT AGAIN”I took upon myself and called Ortho MT Ortho back surgeon told me to be there Friday at 12:30. Dr Rocomoco and staff got me into the building and I had MRI from VA Helena. In a Mayer of a few minutes he showed me where to jagged disc pushing the root of the L 3/4 nerve on the right side. Surgery was necessary as soon as possible. Although VA Helena states 60-90, with 1 hour Tri West had approved the surgery. Will continue the best is yet to come.

Ed Evick

2017-04

I have very positive feedback for the Fort Harrison Medical Center. Overall, the service they provide is excellent! Have there been a couple of small incidents? Of course! After all, they are human. And I must admit, I'm not always at the top of my game. Remember folks, you often get back what you give. Try to have a positive attitude and most likely your experience will be positive.

The Okayest Guy

2023-04

I have had some pleasant experiences. However the mental health side of the house is a complete joke. After dealing with them I can see why they have had several veterans kill themselves on campus.

Mike Hume

2019-04

My provider retired from the VA last October. I was then assigned a Nurse Practitioner as a provider which I turned down and said I want only an MD. I still don't have a new provider but I had medical issues today that I needed to get medical treatment for. I went to the Bozeman VA clinic and they said I would need to wait snd I would be seen by Mary Alston, which is still my provider on file. After waiting over 2 hours Mary Alston sent her nurse to tell me to drive all the way to Fort Harrison emergency room because they have Md's there. So she refused we care and did nothing in the way of a consult to a local medical facility. I am a 100% service connect disabled veteran and she didn't have the right to refuse me care. When I called Fort Harrison they told me to just go to the Bozeman clinic and someone would see me. I told them that they had already turned me away. Fort Harrison did then make a few calls to get me set up with a doctor, but that didn't happen today. I then called Billings VA and they had a cancellation for 11AM tomorrow. I will see a real doctor there. I have been going to VA clinics for over 25 years and Mary Alston is the most arrogant and unprofessional I have ever been in contact with. Fort Harrison would have been over 100 miles for me to drive and I have MS and have been told by real VA doctors to try and have a driver when ever I can and always for the longer drives.If that's the best we can do then close the clinic and send all veterans to local hospitals.

David Ming

2022-04

I understand the difficulties that COVID has created. Since Jun I’ve had 6 appointments, four have been canceled (Doc out for the day) and rescheduled, not days or weeks but months. It’s different times we live in. If you have Tricare I suggest using private providers, hopefully the more that use private providers, the less over worked the Va system will be,

Kenneth Wick

2018-04

I've been going to Ft. Harrison for years. The doctors and staff provide high quality health care and are very supportive of veterans concern. they really care about Vets. Appointment scheduling has always been outstanding. Much better than private care.

John M Harris

2024-04

They are getting better. Still have a long way to go.

Amber Maas

2016-04

My dad spent his 2nd to last week of life in the ICU here. We were profoundly surprised and grateful by the kindness and respect the staff showed to him. Never in my time in the medical field have I ever witnessed such compassionate people; including one of his doctors who was the first Dr. I've seen help a patient with one on one care. It was the worst time of our lives and their caring hearts made it a little easier for us. This is something we will never forget.

Chris Moseman

2020-04

Extremely difficult to get a mental health appointment, if not impossible. Was treated pretty bad in the ER, almost as if I was back at Ft Bragg and being treated like some E nothing suspected of malingering. Other than the poor health care I’ve received here so far, the administrative side has been very helpful.

Frederick Scheffler

2018-04

I went there after taking a fall that opened up my elbow. The care and attention to detail was OUTSTANDING. The staff were considerate and the X-ray-the cleanup and the stitching took less than 2 hours.This is the high quality medical care that all VA facilities should emulate.

harold gibbs

2023-04

I sat at St. Peters hospital in Helena Montana waiting for a call back to get an ambulance from the VA to take me to Missoula Montana for a procedure that St. Peters doctor refused to perform on me. The VA never returned my call! Pretty sad! I am a 28 year military veteran.

Michael Nuss

2018-04

On 20180422 myself and an injured Soldier arrived at the VA ER needing immediate medical care for a severe case of TBI. We were both in uniform, were denied care, and instructed to leave because he was not registered with the VA; and registering him before medical services could be applied would've taken too long. This was a criminal act and fortunatly the professional team in St. Peters were able to assist my Soldier.It's really disheartening to see that the VA can function and recieve funds given the lack of care and the lives of my troops are so easily dismissed.

David Rucker

2020-04

Lacks a call back feature forcing you to literally sit and wait 45 - 90 mins. Waiting on the line with 43 callers in front is ridiculous only to be transferred into another line. Furthermore, administrative documents (especially involving claims) lack contact numbers and only contains an address. Not everyone lives in Helena. I have yet to have a good experience in person. Doctors/staff have been rude, food is borderline torture, and never received timely appointment scheduling(always 2 - 3 months out).

Don Keeballs

2021-04

No continuity with providers (had 3 in a year), and all around bad service. You have staff members bad mouthing other staff members and the hospital administration to patients, which does zero to build confidence and trust. Everyone there just looks like they’re in misery to be working at Ft Harrison.I asked for a hearing exam and was scheduled with a chiropractor. Place is a friggin joke and an insult to every veteran...

Lynde Houk

2020-04

Absolutely the worst place for our veterans! Never have I witnessed such a lack of care and knowledge from the dr's (if your lucky enough to see one), and even their chief of staff will lie to your face! What a joke!! If you need to go the the VA stay away from this place!

Carl Kautz

2022-04

Denied care! I am a service connected Veteran living overseas. Asking for a telehealth appointment but told to use a reimbursement program called Foreign Medical Program (FMP). FMP is more difficult and costly than going to the VA. The VA system is failing us.

Brandi Duvall

2021-04

Blanch, the discharge coordinator at Ft.Harrison, was such a blessing to work with. Without going into detail... our family has kind of a messy situation with my dad, who was a patient there, and she was so patient with us, informative and never lost sight of MY DADS best interests, in spite of us (his own children). Thank you Blanch.

Fairy Queen Ivy P.

2019-04

My husband and I drove 2 hours from bozeman to this hospital's ER at the suggestion of the doctor at the Bozeman VA clinic because they didn't have the equipment to do an ultrasound at the Bozeman clinic. My husband went to seek evaluation of two symptoms, one being numbness, tingling, and weakness in his hands and the other being pain in one leg that both I and the Bozeman doctor think could be a blood clot. The doctor at fort Harrison ER was extremely dismissive, indicated that he only wanted to address one thing in the visit, and then told my husband after 5 minutes or so that he was certain it was just carpal tunnel in both hands and he was giving my husband some hand braces, despite my husband clearly stating that his pinkies were also numb and tingling, which wouldn't be the case with carpal tunnel. To which the doctor responded by saying "in the coming days I want you to pay attention to your pinkies" my husbands hands are and were numb/tingling at that moment, including his pinkies but the doctor did not listen. When my husband was clearly unhappy with this conclusion and the lack of consideration from the doctor, the doctor stated verbatim; "if we're going to have issues, you can go somewhere else"