VA Central Iowa earns trust with Veterans

These results are in line with national VA trust survey results that show Veteran trust across the country in VA outpatient care sits at 91.8%. The national number is an increase from 85.6% in 2018 (the first year since VA began conducting this survey).

“We are very proud of these results,” said VA Central Iowa Patient Experience Officer McKenzie Bahl. “We work intentionally to make sure each Veteran is seen, heard, and has a positive experience. From making an appointment, to the moment they come into our facilities, to their experience with the provider, to any follow up. All of it contributes to the Veteran experience. We also acknowledge that sometimes we miss the mark, and my focus is creating better ways to communicate our strategies to rectify these mistakes, and work with Veterans to create solutions that make sense to them.”

These finding are based on a survey of more than 480,000 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.  

Part of earning trust is getting feedback from Veterans on how they feel about the care they are receiving. Patients are encouraged to provide feedback after every visit to any VA facility.

“Our entire staff is dedicated to earning the trust of our Veterans,” said Lisa Curnes, VA Central Iowa Medical Center Director. “The results of this survey are encouraging. We are constantly trying to improve and will be working to get more and more Veterans to trust the care they receive here.”

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. 

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

Dan Kuester, Public Affairs Officer

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