Henry and I both worked at the Park Forest Library as "Pages" putting books away and helping people find books and references. Henry was compassionate and kind and funny. When I transferred to the University of Wisconsin, I stayed at school one summer, and it was a very difficult summer for me. One evening, I was walking back to my apartment and in a pretty depressed mood and suddenly I heard, "Is that Amy Star?" And Henry just appeared and I turned to say hello and burst into tears. It was totally humiliating but Henry was so kind and became a support and a friend. He soon had me laughing telling me that in ROTC his soldier shoes were too big for him and he had to stuff them with newspapers that then started to fall out as he marched along. We had different political view points, but he was a truly good person. I am sad to hear he's gone. It is still difficult for me to accept that we are seniors in life which has a different meaning than when we were seniors at Rich East.
Henry P. Leweling, 72, of Fort Collins, CO, passed away on January 15, 2018. A proud second-generation graduate of the University of Wisconsin, where he majored in political science, Henry grew up in Park Forest, Illinois and graduated Rich East High School. Following college, Henry served as an active duty officer in the Air Force at Travis AFB and then Goose Bay AB; he later joined the USAF Reserves. After his military service, Henry's work in occupational safety led to assignments in several places across the United States and globally, including Antarctica. Henry was known for his contrarian sense of humor and larger-than-life personality; he also loved quiet moments reading history books and visiting America's national parks, especially the Grand Tetons. Henry is survived by his wife Lin Lin; brother Robert; former wife Carol (nee Dros) and their four children, Tara (Harun Dogo), Christina (Scott Sennett), Katherine (Michael Wilkening), and Elizabeth (Andy Schaaf); grandson Robert Henry Wilkening; and stepdaughter Xin Yuan Lu. Henry was predeceased by his father, Henry F. Leweling; mother, Anna (nee Etzweiler); and two granddaughters, Annabelle Jemma Dogo and Isabella Emina Dogo. In lieu of flowers, the family encourages donations to the University of Wisconsin alumni association and National Park Foundation.
Published in a Chicago Tribune Media Group Publication on Jan. 17, 2018
FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Henry P. Leweling's chest hurt.
He suffers from high cholesterol — and a family history of heart disease — and he has an aneurysm. When his chest hurts, he pays attention.
It hurt enough for the former Air Force serviceman to start popping nitroglycerin to relieve the pain.
"If the aneurysm bursts, you've got four, maybe five minutes to live," he said. "So when you have chest pain like that, you don't ignore it."
That pain in August pushed the 68-year-old from Fort Collins, Colo., to drive to the Cheyenne, Wyo., Veterans Affairs Medical Center to receive treatment. Doctors saw him through urgent care and he was sent from Cheyenne to his primary care physician at the Fort Collins VA clinic.
He remembers walking into Fort Collins, chest still aching, and telling staff he just came from Cheyenne with orders to see his doctor. He also remembers the staff's response: "We can see you in three or four months."
He said he was "obnoxious" and called a "trouble maker" but was seen the next day in Fort Collins. Between that visit and one to his specialist in Wisconsin, he learned his aneurysm had expanded and the pain stemmed from another blocked vein.
At the Fort Collins clinic, he said everything would take three or four months, no matter the urgency. Getting blood work he described as routine a few years back so he could get needed medications was the same story.
Interviews scheduled with VA officials Friday concerning the problems and solutions at the clinic were canceled by the VA at the last minute and officials were made unavailable.
According to a recently released report from the federal Office of the Medical Inspector, scheduling problems at the Fort Collins VA clinic led to record fixing so staff appeared to meet internal goals. Veterans such as Leweling, despite wanting immediate care, could face weekslong wait times that wouldn't appear in status reports.
Staff in Fort Collins also would schedule appointments without notifying veterans, according to the Office of the Medical Inspector.
In March 2013, "the clinic was having problems with scheduling, employee morale and professionalism, and lack of teamwork between the (medical support assistants)," the report states.
To address those issues, employees were changed between Cheyenne and Fort Collins, according to the report. The transfers to Fort Collins reported that scheduling there was "fixed" by having staff change appointment dates to be within two weeks of the desired appointment date, an agency goal.
Also in March, VA-reported wait times for vets that fell in that two-week period spiked from the low 70% range to close to 100%. Staff that failed to record appointments within that 14-day period had their names appear on a "bad boy" list, according to the report.
The practice made it impossible to know how long veterans in Fort Collins waited for appointments.
'Gaming the system'
A June e-mail that was made public Friday details instructions on how to meet that 14-day window, regardless of when the patient wanted service. The apparent author of the e-mail, a telehealth coordinator out of Cheyenne, was placed on administrative leave. In essence, it involved the scheduler telling the veteran when times were available instead of letting the veteran pick, painting an inaccurate picture of how promptly service was provided, according to a report in USA TODAY.
"Yes it is gaming the system a bit," the e-mail says, according to USA TODAY. "But you have to know the rules of the game you are playing, and when we exceed the 14-day measure, the front office gets very upset."
A short news conference May 5 in Cheyenne to address the claims was dominated with administrators insisting policies were "misunderstood" and problems had been fixed. When pressed, they provided little more explanation for what went wrong. Officials provided a copy of a four-page plan to fix it.
Leweling said after reports on the scheduling malpractice surfaced, service in Fort Collins changed for the better — a lab test could have been done the day he walked in to make an appointment and a CT scan was scheduled within a week.
"That wouldn't have happened a year ago," he said.
Health at risk
A site visit to the Fort Collins clinic to highlight the changes was canceled at the last minute Friday, apparently by VA officials in Washington, D.C. The day before, the House Veterans' Affairs committee voted to subpoena Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki over these allegations and that of a Phoenix hospital delaying appointments. Almost two dozen deaths were linked to the Phoenix delays.
While the nation's largest veterans group and U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., demand his resignation, Shinseki is calling for a "face-to-face audit" of every VA clinic, according to media reports.
Multiple VA spokespeople in Washington did not return phone messages left by the Fort Collins Coloradoan on Friday to ask why access to the clinic was shut off.
The OMI investigator wrote that they could not substantiate that errors resulted in a danger to public health and safety.
Leweling isn't so sure.
In addition to VA coverage, he uses Medicare and a supplemental plan he describes as excellent. Extensive coverage coupled with an ability to "hammer through" red tape for care at the VA and elsewhere mean he personally feels less jeopardized because of problems at the clinic.
But others without his resources? "Their care will be impacted," he said.
In 2010, the VA in Cheyenne discovered his high cholesterol. The clinic in Fort Collins gave him the standard answer: We can see you in three or four months.
Leweling opted to see his long-time specialist in Wisconsin instead and was treated almost immediately, albeit 1,000 miles away. His speculation turns dark when it comes to what could have been.
"Let's say, 2010, I'm having all that blockage, and I can't see a doctor for three months," he said. "Some of that blockage breaks loose and I could have had a serious stroke."
So sad to learn of Henry's death. I remember him as being smart and funny. It is so unfair that he should have had to fight so hard to get decent medical care. My thoughts and prayers to his family.
Echoing Dean and Lorrie's remarks. When is this insanity with the VA going to ever end? Like Lorrie, I remember he had a dry and funny sense of humor, and for sure, a very smart guy. RIP Henry.
Stephen Taylor
Sad to hear of Henry's death. RIP m friend.
Amy Star
Henry and I both worked at the Park Forest Library as "Pages" putting books away and helping people find books and references. Henry was compassionate and kind and funny. When I transferred to the University of Wisconsin, I stayed at school one summer, and it was a very difficult summer for me. One evening, I was walking back to my apartment and in a pretty depressed mood and suddenly I heard, "Is that Amy Star?" And Henry just appeared and I turned to say hello and burst into tears. It was totally humiliating but Henry was so kind and became a support and a friend. He soon had me laughing telling me that in ROTC his soldier shoes were too big for him and he had to stuff them with newspapers that then started to fall out as he marched along. We had different political view points, but he was a truly good person. I am sad to hear he's gone. It is still difficult for me to accept that we are seniors in life which has a different meaning than when we were seniors at Rich East.
Robert Witanowski
Published in a Chicago Tribune Media Group Publication on Jan. 17, 2018
Robert Witanowski
FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Henry P. Leweling's chest hurt.
He suffers from high cholesterol — and a family history of heart disease — and he has an aneurysm. When his chest hurts, he pays attention.
It hurt enough for the former Air Force serviceman to start popping nitroglycerin to relieve the pain.
"If the aneurysm bursts, you've got four, maybe five minutes to live," he said. "So when you have chest pain like that, you don't ignore it."
That pain in August pushed the 68-year-old from Fort Collins, Colo., to drive to the Cheyenne, Wyo., Veterans Affairs Medical Center to receive treatment. Doctors saw him through urgent care and he was sent from Cheyenne to his primary care physician at the Fort Collins VA clinic.
STORY: VA worker put on leave over records foulup
STORY: VA treatment records falsified, probe finds
He remembers walking into Fort Collins, chest still aching, and telling staff he just came from Cheyenne with orders to see his doctor. He also remembers the staff's response: "We can see you in three or four months."
He said he was "obnoxious" and called a "trouble maker" but was seen the next day in Fort Collins. Between that visit and one to his specialist in Wisconsin, he learned his aneurysm had expanded and the pain stemmed from another blocked vein.
At the Fort Collins clinic, he said everything would take three or four months, no matter the urgency. Getting blood work he described as routine a few years back so he could get needed medications was the same story.
Interviews scheduled with VA officials Friday concerning the problems and solutions at the clinic were canceled by the VA at the last minute and officials were made unavailable.
According to a recently released report from the federal Office of the Medical Inspector, scheduling problems at the Fort Collins VA clinic led to record fixing so staff appeared to meet internal goals. Veterans such as Leweling, despite wanting immediate care, could face weekslong wait times that wouldn't appear in status reports.
Staff in Fort Collins also would schedule appointments without notifying veterans, according to the Office of the Medical Inspector.
In March 2013, "the clinic was having problems with scheduling, employee morale and professionalism, and lack of teamwork between the (medical support assistants)," the report states.
To address those issues, employees were changed between Cheyenne and Fort Collins, according to the report. The transfers to Fort Collins reported that scheduling there was "fixed" by having staff change appointment dates to be within two weeks of the desired appointment date, an agency goal.
Also in March, VA-reported wait times for vets that fell in that two-week period spiked from the low 70% range to close to 100%. Staff that failed to record appointments within that 14-day period had their names appear on a "bad boy" list, according to the report.
The practice made it impossible to know how long veterans in Fort Collins waited for appointments.
'Gaming the system'
A June e-mail that was made public Friday details instructions on how to meet that 14-day window, regardless of when the patient wanted service. The apparent author of the e-mail, a telehealth coordinator out of Cheyenne, was placed on administrative leave. In essence, it involved the scheduler telling the veteran when times were available instead of letting the veteran pick, painting an inaccurate picture of how promptly service was provided, according to a report in USA TODAY.
"Yes it is gaming the system a bit," the e-mail says, according to USA TODAY. "But you have to know the rules of the game you are playing, and when we exceed the 14-day measure, the front office gets very upset."
STORY: VA chief subpoenaed in investigation of dying veterans
STORY: American Legion calls on VA chief to resign
A short news conference May 5 in Cheyenne to address the claims was dominated with administrators insisting policies were "misunderstood" and problems had been fixed. When pressed, they provided little more explanation for what went wrong. Officials provided a copy of a four-page plan to fix it.
Leweling said after reports on the scheduling malpractice surfaced, service in Fort Collins changed for the better — a lab test could have been done the day he walked in to make an appointment and a CT scan was scheduled within a week.
"That wouldn't have happened a year ago," he said.
Health at risk
A site visit to the Fort Collins clinic to highlight the changes was canceled at the last minute Friday, apparently by VA officials in Washington, D.C. The day before, the House Veterans' Affairs committee voted to subpoena Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki over these allegations and that of a Phoenix hospital delaying appointments. Almost two dozen deaths were linked to the Phoenix delays.
While the nation's largest veterans group and U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., demand his resignation, Shinseki is calling for a "face-to-face audit" of every VA clinic, according to media reports.
Multiple VA spokespeople in Washington did not return phone messages left by the Fort Collins Coloradoan on Friday to ask why access to the clinic was shut off.
The OMI investigator wrote that they could not substantiate that errors resulted in a danger to public health and safety.
Leweling isn't so sure.
In addition to VA coverage, he uses Medicare and a supplemental plan he describes as excellent. Extensive coverage coupled with an ability to "hammer through" red tape for care at the VA and elsewhere mean he personally feels less jeopardized because of problems at the clinic.
But others without his resources? "Their care will be impacted," he said.
In 2010, the VA in Cheyenne discovered his high cholesterol. The clinic in Fort Collins gave him the standard answer: We can see you in three or four months.
Leweling opted to see his long-time specialist in Wisconsin instead and was treated almost immediately, albeit 1,000 miles away. His speculation turns dark when it comes to what could have been.
"Let's say, 2010, I'm having all that blockage, and I can't see a doctor for three months," he said. "Some of that blockage breaks loose and I could have had a serious stroke."
Dean Osterling
Sad news. What a nice guy. Tough enough to take on the VA, though. Nobody should have to go through what he went through.
Dean Osterling
Lorrie Gifford (Burke)
So sad to learn of Henry's death. I remember him as being smart and funny. It is so unfair that he should have had to fight so hard to get decent medical care. My thoughts and prayers to his family.
Larry McDaniel
Echoing Dean and Lorrie's remarks. When is this insanity with the VA going to ever end? Like Lorrie, I remember he had a dry and funny sense of humor, and for sure, a very smart guy. RIP Henry.