VA Greater Los Angeles H-PACT Clinic

Joseph Damiano

The H.P.A.C.T. Unit of the West Los Angeles is those of us who have been determined to be labeled as "Chronically Homeless" and diagnosed to be addicted to a substance or to the medications that the VA has prescribed to us or we are labeled as an alcoholic, I abhor the label and harbor serious animosity towards the dumb-ass Doctor who stained my reputation with his 5 minute diagnosis. I hope that in HIS lifetime that HE or a member of HIS immediate family IS diagnosed incorrectly & labeled exactly the same: "Addiction or Alcoholism Disorder" irregardless of whether or not they have the disease because that would be justice served. The H.P.A.C.T. team and methods is supposedly the best approach to serve the demands that the chronically homeless, addicted and mentally ill place on the already overwhelmed Doctors, Nurses & Mental Health providers from the Veterans Administration. When you or anyone examines or investigates this H.P A.C.T. Unit, it will be apparent that this is a waste of much needed resources that could be better utilized. The H.P A.C.T. Team is inefficient, ineffective and indeed a misguided approach based on other team approaches in health care. This team approach costs millions of dollars to mistreat and label perfectly healthy veterans as addicts, alcoholics mentally ill when all most of us needed was basic housing help. This should be examined by Inspector General for fraud, waste & misuse of funding that could be better utilized elsewhere or building affordable housing instead.