UNDATED (WSAU-Wheeler News) A second death of a patient at the V-A Medical Center in Tomah has raised questions in Congress, and strong criticism from the patient’s daughter. 74-year old Thomas Baer of Marshfield died from an apparent stroke in mid-January. U-S-A Today said Candace Baer-Delis took her father to Tomah on January 12th after he had trouble walking and breathing. While he was waiting to be treated, the national news outlet said Baer slumped over and became unresponsive — and the hospital did not order a C-T scan or preventive medicines. The stroke was finally confirmed, and the report said Baer was taken to a La Crosse hospital where he had another stroke and died.
On January 28th, two weeks after Baer died, his daughter notified the state’s two U-S senators — who were demanding a congressional investigation of the alleged over-prescription of painkillers at the Tomah V-A and the related death of a Marine last summer. Republican Ron Johnson took the matter to a congressional hearing yesterday, citing Baer’s death as an example of what he called horrifying consequences of shortfalls that need to be addressed in the V-A health care network.
Democrat Tammy Baldwin’s office told U-S-A Today said her chief-of-staff asked the V-A to include Baer’s death in its ongoing investigation. The paper said Baer’s daughter was not told of that until the news outlet mentioned it. In her words, “Lip service is really all we have gotten” from Baldwin’s office.
