Attention

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not represent our advertisers

Thursday, February 07, 2019

Four former VA Secretaries: There's an historic and welcome transformation underway at the VA

We served in the post of Secretary of Veterans Affairs for a combined total of 12 years from 2001 to 2017, coinciding with the terrorist attacks on the United States and the war years that followed.

As veterans, we served in Vietnam and in the post-Vietnam era military and understand all too well the problems that have beset the Department of Veterans Affairs in the past and the challenges now facing the VA as it cares for veterans from World War ll and Korea through Vietnam, Kuwait, Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria.

The VA today is experiencing rapid changes in health care and the demographic convergence of three generations of warriors with varying health and benefits concerns and different attitudes about a VA that is tailoring its health care delivery to best meet the needs of the populations it serves now and in the future.

The cornerstone of the VA’s ongoing modernization is a continued commitment to improving internal clinical services for veterans through better leadership and management practices and delivering top quality access to health care at all levels of its hospitals and clinics across this nation.

The VA excels in large part because of an army of dedicated civil servants and close relationships with academic institutions and research entities that work collaboratively with the VA to bring excellent care to veterans. And when the VA has not been able to deliver acceptable care or in cases where veterans live too far from VA services, Congress has generously funded and expanded the VA’s Community Care Program so veterans can see private doctors closer to home.

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/four-former-va-secretaries-theres-an-historic-and-welcome-transformation-underway-at-the-va

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I vividly remember when Frank Robinson, Brooks Robinson, et al, took on the Dodgers in the World Series of 1966. I was a high school student, had broken my leg and ended up in Peninsula General Hospital. My roommate was an older gentleman and claimed to be wise in the ways of baseball. He said, over and over, "There's no way the Orioles can win. The Dodgers have Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale and Claude Osteen. No way the Orioles can get past those pitchers."

The Orioles won in four straight games.