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 A veteran who collapsed in a cafeteria at Albuquerque’s Veterans Affairs hospital died after waiting 20 to 25 minutes to get to the same hospital’s emergency room, located about 500 yards away, a VA spokeswoman confirmed Thursday. 
 
 An Albuquerque Fire Department spokeswoman said it took an ambulance about 11 minutes to be dispatched and arrive at the cafeteria, which is about a five-minute walk from the emergency room, officials at the hospital said. VA spokeswoman Sonja Brown said VA staff told her that at least 20 minutes elapsed between the man’s medical episode and when he arrived at the ER. 
 
 Kirtland Air Force Medical Group personnel, who regularly eat lunch at the cafeteria, performed CPR until the ambulance arrived, Brown said. 
 
 Staff followed policy in calling 911 when the man collapsed on Monday, she said. 
 
 “Our policy is under expedited review,” Brown said. 
 
 Brown said the policy is a local one, and Jean Schaefer, spokeswoman for the Phoenix-based regional VA network, said these types of medical center policies vary across VA campuses, depending on what facilities are there. 
 
 Brown also said she’s not aware of any vehicles owned by the VA that could have transported the veteran. 
 
 National Veterans Affairs representatives did not respond to a request for comment Thursday. 
 
 The man’s name hasn’t been released. 
 
 News of the man’s death at the Raymond G. Murphy VA Medical Center spread Thursday among veterans who were visiting the center for various medical reasons. 
 
 Lorenzo Calbert, 65, a U.S. Army veteran of the Vietnam War, said it was sad that a fellow veteran had to die so close to where he could have received help. 
 
 “There’s no reason for it,” he said. “They have so many workers. They could have put him on the gurney and run faster than that ambulance.” 
 
 An Albuquerque Fire Department spokeswoman said law prohibits disclosing how long it took for the ambulance to get from the cafeteria to the hospital. She also said Albuquerque Ambulance arrived before AFD, and a spokeswoman there said the ambulance arrived “well within” 10 minutes, which Brown said is unlikely. 
 
 However, Brown said that, if the ambulance company and AFD are correct about their response times, it would have taken at least 10 minutes for the veteran to be driven the 500 yards between the cafeteria to the hospital. 
 
 Under a policy instituted in 2010 and signed by then-director George Marnell, the VA medical center Code Blue Team is to respond to medical emergencies in six buildings on the 88-acre property off of San Pedro SE. The buildings include the main hospital in Building 41, but the cafeteria or canteen aren’t mentioned. 
 
 Code Blue Team members include a physician, an intensive care unit nurse, a health technician, a nursing supervisor, an anesthesiologist, a respiratory therapist and a pharmacist, if needed. 
 
 The policy goes on to state: “For medical emergencies out of the Code Blue Team response areas, the Albuquerque EMS system via 911 will be activated,” the policy states. Outpatients or non-patients responded to by Albuquerque EMS who have suffered a cardiac and/or respiratory arrest will be transported to the VA medical center’s emergency department, the policy adds. 
 
 Outpatients or non-patients who haven’t suffered a cardiopulmonary arrest will be transported per Albuquerque EMS protocols. And all medical emergencies involving children regardless of the location on the VA Medical Center campus are to be dealt with by Albuquerque EMS via a 911 call. 
 
 The policy requires medical center staff who witness a life-threatening event to give CPR or emergency aid regardless of the location. Staff members are to remain with the individual until emergency help arrives. 
 
 Congresswoman Michelle Lujan Grisham issued a statement Thursday, saying her office has been trying for two days to get information from the VA about “whether its policy may have contributed to the delay in care. 
 
 “In any case, the inability of officials to answer basic questions in a timely fashion is yet another reason the public has lost faith, and why we are demanding an outside investigation and immediate reform at the Albuquerque VA.” 
 
 The death comes as the Department of Veterans Affairs remains under scrutiny for widespread reports of long delays for treatment and medical appointments and of veterans dying while on waiting lists. 
 
 A review last week cited “significant and chronic system failures” in the nation’s health system for veterans. The review also portrayed the struggling agency as one battling a corrosive culture of distrust, lacking in resources and ill-prepared to deal with an influx of new and older veterans with a range of medical and mental health care needs. 
 
 The scathing report by Deputy White House chief of staff Rob Nabors said the Veterans Health Administration, the VA sub agency that provides health care to about 8.8 million veterans a year, has systematically ignored warnings about its deficiencies and must be fundamentally restructured. 
 
 Marc Landy, a political science professor at Boston College, said the Department of Veterans Affairs is a large bureaucracy with various local policies like the one under review in Albuquerque. 
 
 Although the agency needs to undergo reform, Landy said it’s unfair to attack the VA too harshly on the recent Albuquerque death, because it appears to be so unusual. 
 
 “I think we have to be careful,” he said. “Let’s not beat up too much on the VA while they are already facing criticism.” ||||| Men sit outside the Raymond G. Murphy VA Medical Center in Albuquerque, N.M., Thursday, July 3, 2014. A veteran who collapsed in an Albuquerque Veteran Affairs hospital cafeteria 500 yards from the emergency... (Associated Press) 
 
 ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A veteran who collapsed in an Albuquerque Veteran Affairs hospital cafeteria — 500 yards from the emergency room — died after waiting 30 minutes for an ambulance, officials confirmed Thursday. 
 
 It took a half an hour for the ambulance to be dispatched and take the man from one building to the other, which is about a five-minute walk, officials at the hospital said. 
 
 Kirtland Air Force Medical Group personnel performed CPR until the ambulance arrived, VA spokeswoman Sonja Brown said. 
 
 Staff followed policy in calling 911 when the man collapsed on Monday, she said. "Our policy is under expedited review," Brown said. 
 
 That policy is a local one, she said. 
 
 The man's name hasn't been released. 
 
 News of the man's death spread Thursday at the Raymond G. Murphy VA Medical Center among veterans who were visiting for various medical reasons. 
 
 Lorenzo Calbert, 65, a U.S. Army veteran of the Vietnam War, said it was sad that a fellow veteran had to die so close to where he could have received help. 
 
 "There's no reason for it," he said. "They have so many workers. They could have put him on the gurney and run faster than that ambulance." 
 
 Paul Bronston, a California emergency-room physician and chair of Ethics and Professional Policy Committee of the American College of Medical Quality, said it may sound ridiculous that staff had to call 911 but that practice is the standard at hospitals. Typically, an ambulance would arrive faster, and other factors can stall workers trying to rush patients to the emergency room on foot, he said. 
 
 "The question I would have (is) ... was there an AED (automated external defibrillator) on site as required?" he said. Bronston said 90 percent of those who collapse are afflicted by heart problems and an AED could help them. 
 
 It was not known what caused the man to collapse or whether an AED was nearby. 
 
 The death comes as the Department of Veterans Affairs remains under scrutiny for widespread reports of long delays for treatment and medical appointments and of veterans dying while on waiting lists. 
 
 A review last week cited "significant and chronic system failures" in the nation's health system for veterans. The review also portrayed the struggling agency as one battling a corrosive culture of distrust, lacking in resources and ill-prepared to deal with an influx of new and older veterans with a range of medical and mental health care needs. 
 
 The scathing report by Deputy White House chief of staff Rob Nabors said the Veterans Health Administration, the VA sub agency that provides health care to about 8.8 million veterans a year, has systematically ignored warnings about its deficiencies and must be fundamentally restructured. 
 
 Marc Landy, a political science professor at Boston College, said the Department of Veterans Affairs is a large bureaucracy with various local policies like the one under review in Albuquerque. 
 
 Although the agency needs to undergo reform, Landy said it's unfair to attack the VA too harshly on the recent Albuquerque death because it appears to be so unusual. 
 
 "I think we have to be careful," he said. "Let's not beat up too much on the VA while they are already facing criticism." 
 
 ___ 
 
 Follow Russell Contreras at http://twitter.com/russcontreras ||||| A military veteran died Monday after waiting for an ambulance to take him 500 yards to the emergency room. 
 
 
 
 As it turns out, the problem was he was already at the Veterans Affairs Hospital. 
 
 
 
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 A 71-year-old Albuquerque veteran died Monday at the VA hospital. He collapsed in the cafeteria, which is next to the main hospital building. 
 
 
 
 Staff followed VA policy that said personnel must call 911 for a medical emergency that happens outside the main hospital. 
 
 
 
 Target 7 spoke with the veteran's family. They asked that he remain unidentified because they are considering legal action. 
 
 
 
 VA officials told the man's family he collapsed at 12:19 p.m. The Albuquerque Fire Department said they dispatched a rescue unit at 12:26 p.m. That unit arrived at the hospital at 12:33 p.m. 
 
 
 
 Albuquerque ambulance said their paramedics got to the veteran at 12:39 p.m. 
 
 
 
 Nearly 14 minutes passed from the time he collapsed to the time medics arrived at the scene. 
 
 
 
 They drove him on the complex from one building to the other. It takes four minutes to walk from the cafeteria to the VA's emergency room. 
 
 By the time the ambulance got to the cafeteria, loaded up the veteran and drove him around the building, it was too late to save the veteran. 
 
 
 
 When Action 7 News asked the VA why the man wasn't helped on property or even wheeled on a gurney to the ER, a spokesperson said, "We are currently reviewing our policy on it." 
 
 
 
 Officials cannot confirm if any doctors were present in the cafeteria when the man went down. Workers are required to call 911. 
 
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– Another black eye for the Veterans Health Administration? A 71-year-old veteran died on Monday after waiting up to 30 minutes for an ambulance—while already at a Veteran Affairs hospital. Officials say the man collapsed in the Albuquerque hospital's cafeteria, which is around 1,500 feet from the emergency room, about a four-minute walk, the AP reports. By the time medics arrived, loaded him into the ambulance, and drove him around the building, it was too late to save him. A VA spokeswoman says staff followed policy by calling 911 when the man collapsed, but that "policy is under expedited review." The man's family has asked that he remain unidentified because they are considering legal action, KOAT reports. The case comes after a long series of reports of serious deficiencies at the VA, including dozens of veterans dying while on "secret waiting lists," the Albuquerque Journal reports. Rep. Michelle Grisham says her office has been trying for days to get the VA to answer "whether its policy may have contributed to the delay in care." In any case, she says, "the inability of officials to answer basic questions in a timely fashion is yet another reason the public has lost faith, and why we are demanding an outside investigation and immediate reform at the Albuquerque VA."