Women’s History Month: Honoring Women with VA Commitment
Since the Revolutionary War, more than 3 million women have served and sacrificed in times of war, even before the military fully recognized their service. Women have continued to play crucial roles in the defense of the United States in each conflict thereafter.
It wasn’t until 1948 when President Harry S. Truman signed into law the Women's Armed Services Integration Act, which allowed for the first time, women to serve as regular members of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.
Today, there are over 350,000 active servicewomen and 2 million female veterans in the U.S., the highest number in history. There are currently 310,000 women within Veterans Affairs helping to provide female Veterans the benefits and care they have earned and deserve.
“Many efforts have been implemented to ensure Women Veterans not only receive VA benefits but also receive the right type of benefits tailored to their unique needs,” said Ashley Cain, Battle Creek VA Medical Center Maternity Care Coordinator and Women’s Health Nurse Navigator. “Women have committed themselves to the defense of America, and we are committed to providing them the care and benefits.”
Cain also lists some of the healthcare benefits Veterans Affairs delivers to women Veterans, to include; Reproductive Health, Mental Health and Military Sexual trauma care, Prenatal care, laboratory work, genetic screenings, imaging, and labor/delivery services. Additional health services also include Maternity and Post-partum care services.
For historical context, women provided supportive roles mainly in medical and clerical services in World War I, and their contributions would greatly increase during World War II. Altogether, about 34,000 women served during World War II in the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. The Army only allowed women to serve as nurses. In 1971, women made up just 1% of the military services. Ten years later, it was 8.5% however, women at that time were not allowed to serve in combat military occupational specialties like infantry, artillery, and combat aviation.
As society continues to change and open more opportunities for women, additional roles have also become more available within the military. By 2016, the Department of Defense effectively removed all restrictions for women serving in the military, and the result is that women now represent the fastest growing population of Veterans. This results in Veteran healthcare continuously examining what needs to be changed and what needs to be added.
“Our program utilizes surveys, focus groups, town halls to hear from them what they need and would like to see us offer,” said Cain. “Collaboration is another key component to providing the best care we can and we understand that we may not be able to fulfil all their needs under our roof so we take pride in our collaborations with other VA and community health partners to meet any needs our women may have.”
As of Oct. 2022, there were 231,147 women who made up around 18% of the department's active-duty force and all jobs have opened to them in recent years. Additionally, there are about 33% of DOD civilians who are women.
“Our female Veterans have served, worked alongside and provided everything their male counterparts have earning the very same Veteran status,” said Heather Morgan, Battle Creek VA Medical Center Women Veterans Program Manager. “The importance is that they are equal, they are here and we’re here to serve them.”
In addition to services listed above available to women Veterans, Morgan also oversees efforts ensuring that female Veterans are aware of clinical services such as cervical cancer screening, breast cancer screening, awareness of the Service ACT, Women’s Health PACT Teams, and social program initiatives including women’s social events and women’s recreational activities.
To further ensure that the needs of women Veterans continue to be met, Morgan and her fellow staff members continue to hold quarterly town hall meetings, focus groups, and one-on-one meetings where they ask women what they would like to see added or improved with female Veterans’ healthcare.
“It’s important for us to identify what they need, so even if they ask for the sun, moon and the stars, our mission is to find that out because the more we know, the more we grow,” said Cain.
Battle Creek VA Healthcare System serves 44,908 Veterans from across 21 counties in Michigan. In 2023, the medical center and its clinic locations provided health services to 4,759 were women. If you would like to learn more about Women Veteran’s Care through Battle Creek VA, please select the following link here.