Veterans Want VA Fixed, Not Dismantled

[Boats]

Veterans Want VA Fixed, Not Dismantled
By VFW 3-31-17
RE: https://www.vfw.org/actioncorpsweekly


Veterans Want VA Fixed, Not Dismantled:

President Trump announced Monday the creation of a White House Office of American Innovation to “bring together the best ideas from government, the private sector, and other thought leaders to ensure that America is ready to solve today's most intractable problems.” One of the new office’s targets is to fix an old problem — the Department of Veterans Affairs — and the VFW wants to be part of the solution. “The VFW prides itself in evaluating what works at the VA and in identifying what needs to be fixed,” said VFW National Commander Brian Duffy. “Veterans turn to VA for the high-quality, individualized care they provide, but there is always room for improvement, especially in the areas of information technology, scheduling, data analysis, and access to quality care out in the communities.” The VFW recently released the results of its sixth nationwide survey of veterans, a copy of which was delivered to every congressional office earlier this month during the VFW’s National Legislative Conference, and the results of which were personally discussed with the president on March 17. The purpose of OUR CARE 2017: A Report Evaluating Veterans Health Care, is to continue to evaluate the impact of the Veterans Choice Program, which was enacted in 2014 in response to the VA’s crisis in access to care. “The most important takeaway is the overwhelming majority of respondents said they want to fix, not dismantle the VA health care system,” said Duffy, who believes the VA is on the right track, but that much work remains, such as the need to hire more doctors, hold wrongdoers accountable, improve customer service, and to make VA’s programs and systems more user-friendly.