Tennessee Valley Healthcare System

The most remarkable staff deserves 10 star rating! Just to say Thank You seems so inadequate but THANK YOU! The family of Cpl. Darrell Steele, USMC, Chattanooga, TN.

TVHS Alvin C York campus is a great place to receive care. The staff is always friendly, and helpful. They truly care about the Veteran!!!

They just do not have the facilities for alcohol detox. You want a supportive environment for your loved ones when they're detoxing from alcohol. Especially if they're coming in voluntarily.

However, the program resembles that of a prison system where those needing to lie down have to do so in the common space, on uncomfortable chairs.

Things like television are monitored and by monitored, I don't mean the channels they get to watch, I mean monitored as in "TV hours". I find this detrimental (not just the TV, but the ability to lie down) because the detox process is painful and so an appropriate distraction is require in order to facilitate this process. So instead of detoxing in a controlled environment, patients are required to painfully lie there while their schedules are regimented.

These regimented schedules make patients feel like inmates rather than patients and it's sad.

The staff, on the other hand, are simply doing their jobs (not a bad thing) but there's not much they can do as those on the floor do not make the rules. They are made to adhere by them so it's painful cycle.

What makes this entire thing sad, is those seeking help would be deterred from getting it because they must make the choice between feeling like they're dead or feeling like inmates.

I know there's a negative stigma when it comes to these patients but patients who seek help should be encouraged to do so because the alternative is so much worse; it is worse to themselves, to their families, and to those who deal with them on a regular basis.