James E. Van Zandt VA Medical Center, #2 in Trust in VA among Veteran patients rises to 96.5%

Nationwide trust in VA outpatient care has increased to 91.8% — up from 85.6% in 2018.

This finding is based on a survey of Veteran patients who received VA health care in the past 90 days. Within one week of using VA services, these Veterans were asked whether they trusted VA for their health care needs across a variety of categories – including scheduling an appointment, health care visits, in-person pharmacy, mail-order pharmacy, labs/imaging, and Veteran safety.

The James E. Van Zandt VA Medical Center consists of the main facility in Altoona and outpatient clinics in DuBois, Huntingdon, Indiana, Johnstown and State College.

This survey mirrors the findings of recent independent studies. According to Medicare’s latest nationwide survey of patients, VA hospitals outperformed non-VA hospitals on all 10 core patient satisfaction metrics — including overall hospital rating, communication with doctors, communication about medication, willingness to recommend the hospital, and more. VA health care has also consistently outperformed non-VA care in peer-reviewed studies, overall quality ratings, and affordability for Veterans.

Today, VA is delivering more care and more benefits to more Veterans than ever before in our nation’s history, setting an all-time record for health care provided in 2023. As Veteran trust in VA has increased, more Veterans have also begun to choose VA care. VA has enrolled 401,006 Veterans in VA health care over the past 365 days – 30% more than the 307,831 it enrolled the previous year. This is the highest number of enrollees in a single year in at least the past five years at VA, and nearly a 50% increase over pandemic-level enrollment in 2020.

“Trust between Veterans and the Healthcare team is paramount, when Veterans trust their healthcare partners, they have better outcomes,” said Dr. Derek Coughenour, Executive Director of the James E. Van Zandt VA Medical Center. “Being ranked 2nd in the nation for self-reported trust by our Veterans is an honor that comes with great responsibility. Our team focuses and strives to earn and build continued trust with each Veteran.

“We are blessed to serve America’s heroes,” Coughenour continued. “When Veterans took the Oath to serve in our military, they offered a blank check. They served us, now we have the honor to serve them.”

“We at VA work to earn the trust of Veterans every day, in every part of the country, every time they come to us for their care,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough. “We’re proud that more than 91% of Veterans now trust VA health care, but we still have work to do. By measuring Veteran trust, we can not only learn what we’re doing well at VA – we can also learn how to get better.”

“Delivering world-class health care begins with trust,” said VA Under Secretary for Health Shereef Elnahal, M.D. “Whenever a Veteran walks into a VA facility, we want them to know that we are going to take care of them. That’s the standard to which we hold ourselves, and we’ll never settle for anything less.”

VA’s historic health care enrollment has been made possible by the bipartisan PACT Act – signed into law by President Biden as a part of his Unity Agenda for the nation – which has allowed VA to expand VA health care and benefits to millions of Veterans. VA is also conducting the most aggressive outreach campaign in its history, including hosting over 2,600 events since the enactment of the PACT Act, launching a $16+ million advertising campaign, using public service announcements, and – for the first time ever – sending text messages to Veterans encouraging them to enroll in VA health care. VA is continuing these vigorous outreach efforts throughout 2024, with more than 550 in-person events already scheduled for this year.

VA recently expanded health care eligibility for millions of Veterans nationwide, years earlier than called for by the PACT Act. As of March 5th, all Veterans who were exposed to toxins and other hazards while serving in the military and meet certain requirements became eligible to enroll directly in VA health care. This means that all Veterans who served in the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Global War on Terror, or any other combat zone after 9/11 can enroll directly in VA health care without first applying for VA benefits. Additionally, Veterans who never deployed but were exposed to toxins or hazards while training or on active duty in the United States are also eligible to enroll. VA also recently expanded health care to all World War II Veterans.

Moving forward, VA will continue to aggressively reach out to Veterans to encourage them to come to VA. VA encourages all Veterans, family members, caregivers, and survivors to learn more about VA to understand how VA fits into their lives, and apply for their world-class health care and earned benefits today.

For more information about the James E. Van Zandt VA Medical Center visit https://www.va.gov/altoona-health-care/. For more information about VA care, visit VA’s health care website. For more information about Veteran trust in VA, visit the VA trust website.

John Harlow, Public Affairs Supervisor Specialist

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