Shows
The WhistleblowersWhistleblowing on the VAOct 21, 2023 06:07Whistleblowing on the VAOn this episode of The Whistleblowers, Ted Blickwedel, a 27-year veteran, began providing counseling services for Vet Centers in 2009. However, by 2016, he realized that what was originally a people-centered approach to helping veterans had become a numbers game, where patients were rushed through appointments to meet Veterans Administration numbers expectations. Ted began to feel burned out, and he realized other counselors were having the same experience. In 2018, he emailed 1,300 Vet Center counselors across the US to learn how the VA’s expectations and bureaucratic demands were affecting them. The results were so st...2024-12-1725 min
S.O.S. (Stories of Service) - Ordinary people who do extraordinary workFighting for Veterans: Ted Blickwedel’s Battle for Better Care | S.O.S. #164Send us a textThis week, I sit down with Ted Blickwedel, a retired Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel, combat veteran, and Licensed Clinical Social Worker, who risked everything to expose critical issues within the Veterans Affairs (VA) system. Ted’s journey began at the VA VET Center in Warwick, RI, where he provided mental health care to fellow veterans from 2009 to 2018.In 2017, he witnessed how harmful clinical productivity policies were jeopardizing the well-being of counselors and the quality of care for veterans. When his concerns were repeatedly dismissed by supervisors, Ted decided to sp...2024-11-2356 min
Disrupting the DominoesS2E8: Lt. Col. Ted Blickwedel - Marine Combat Veteran Turned Whistleblower Exposing Compromised Mental Healthcare at the VABlickwedel, a VA VET Center counselor, fought valiantly to protect veterans, their families and counselors from the VA’s misguided, harmful and unethical clinical performance policies, which turned patients into numbers and severely compromised the mental health and welfare of both Veterans and the counselors who care for them. Despite enduring the unjust and toxic retaliation tactics inflicted on him by VA officials, Blickwedel marched steadfastly on, determined to expose and correct the callous abuse and misconduct perpetrated by VA management. 2024-06-0744 min
The Commission MissionVA Breaking Promises | People over Profits | S2E12In this special episode, we dedicate it to the men and women who have served our country. Ted Blickwedel shares his first-hand experience with issues facing veterans when they return home from war. We owe it to those who served to provide the care and services they need when they return home.2023-12-2026 min
Whistleblower of the WeekTed BlickwedalThis week, WOW Host Jane Turner speaks with Ted Blickwedel. Blickwedel is a Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel and combat veteran who became a Licensed Clinical Social Worker after retiring. He blew the whistle on the VA’s productivity policies that put pressure on counselors who treat combat veterans. Blickwedel asserted the VA’s policies were harmful to counselors and compromised the quality of care for veterans. He describes his whistleblower journey and a blueprint for fellow whistleblowers to use from his lessons learned, which is featured in his book Broken Promises: Marine Combat Veteran Turns Whistleblower Exposing Compromised Ment...2023-09-2243 min
Be Crazy WellBroken Promises ~ Retired Marine Corps Lt Col Ted BlickwedelBroken Promises ~ Compromised Mental Health Care, Counselor Burnout & Retaliation at VA
Our Veterans are not numbers!
Suzi is joined by Ted Blickwedel, Retired Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel, combat veteran and Licensed Clinical Social Worker, about compromised mental health care and counsel burnout in VA Vet Centers. Ted's journey from clinical social worker employed by the VA to today has been quite a road of discovery, hardship and disappointment in the VA system. Ted's expectation of quality care for his fellow men and women of service who need the support...2023-01-1653 min
Ladey Adey ShowJerry Strayve Jr. talks Broken Promises and co-writing with whistle-blower Marine Corps Ted BlickwedelIn this episode, Ladey Adey interviews Jerry Strayve Jr. Jerry talks us through his life, born to a military family, attending nine schools before entering college. Following service in the United States Marine Corps, he raised a family while working as a financial representative and serial entrepreneur.Whilst raising his young children Jerry discovered his love for spinning a spontaneous tale. It wasn't long before his love for history and stories combined and he jumped into writing. Jerry started with fiction, works include the first two books in a four...2022-07-1817 min