MUSKOGEE, Okla. -- The Problem Solvers team helps a veteran who can’t get a mobility scooter after having one for 15 years.
For the last 15 years, Rodney Orton and his Chihuahua “Pita” have gotten around with the help of a mobility scooter because of Orton’s breathing problems
He said, “I have to get from my living room to my bathroom if I have to go, and I can only get about halfway there before I have to sit down and rest and get air.”
However, the scooter malfunctioned and went kaput. Orton explained, “We switched the switch on and off. We switched the drive on and off. We did everything we could possibly do to the scooter. It would not run.”
He contacted the VA but was told he would have to get an evaluation to see if he needed a new scooter and that the next available appointment was in six weeks, even though he went through an evaluation 15 years ago.
Orton was already admitted into the VA hospital for an unrelated issue and wondered why staff couldn’t just do his evaluation there.
Problem Solver Travis Guillory went to work for him and got in touch with the VA to explain the veteran’s situation. They immediately took action.
Asst. Chief of Prosthetics Diana Kinion explained, “We went ahead and did our research in our inventory that we maintain locally and had a scooter that was able to fit his medical necessity and needs that he needed to go home with.”
She delivered a scooter to his room the very next morning. Orton said, “It’s a scooter that was supposed to be delivered, and it wasn’t delivered because the person didn’t need it anymore.”
Kinion said this was a rare situation that doesn’t happen often, adding, “For the most part, we get an order and then it’s ordered and delivered to the patient within a few weeks.”
Now, Orton and “Pita” have a new set of wheels to get around and enjoy life.
The veteran said, “I now have a scooter thanks to 2 news. They got this young lady up here right quick-like. She took the bull by the horns.”
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