'Getting the best care to our Veterans': National VA Chief of Staff meets with local Vets
While VA does great things for Veterans on a daily basis, many Veterans either don’t know about the services available to them or believe they don’t qualify. Kimberly Jackson would like to see that change.
“We’ve learned that if you can get Veterans tethered to VA — either through health care or getting benefits — then their outcomes tend to be better,” said Jackson, the national VA Chief of Staff, during an informal roundtable discussion with about a dozen Veterans after Monday’s Memorial Day ceremony at Wood National Cemetery.
“And if you get them one thing — whether that’s a home loan, benefits through the GI Bill or bringing them into the health care system — then they tend to become users of the other things VA has to offer.”
However, she said VA has an established relationship will only 50 percent of Veterans nationwide, which is why increasing health care enrollment through the expanded PACT Act and other means is so vital.
“I am thrilled about this, because it means offering millions of Veterans more care now,” she said.
Under the PACT Act, Veterans who were exposed to toxins and other hazards while serving — at home or abroad — are eligible to enroll directly in VA health care without first applying for VA benefits.
“Being able to open up the VA (to more Veterans) through the PACT Act … is something we’re super proud of,” she said. “It’s getting the best care to our Veterans.”
While the Veterans talking with Jackson praised the health care they receive at the Milwaukee VA, they said it’s difficult to get the message to those Veterans who are not with VA.
Many of them, particularly younger Veterans, are not members of the traditional service organizations, such as American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars and Disabled American Veterans, which serve as vital conduits of information from VA to Veterans.
Plus, there’s often a reluctance among younger Veterans to enroll in VA health care.
One Vietnam Veteran said his son served in Iraq “but he won’t come here,” he said. “It’s very, very hard to get the younger Vets more involved.”
Jackson agreed, noting that even among her colleagues are Veterans who feel that “VA is not for them.”
“They say, ‘I’m OK; I can get my health care somewhere else. Let someone else who needs it take it,’” she said, noting that many Veterans are selfless and believe others should go before them.
“Actually, there are resources here for everybody, and we’re better if we have more people using our resources.”
While Jackson heard mostly compliments for VA from the Veterans, there were some critiques, particularly about the phone scheduling system that directs callers to a centralized national call center instead of their local medical center or clinic.
She asked about wait times, with the Veterans saying they run the gamut, from having to wait weeks for an appointment to being offered a slot the next day.
There was talk about a hiring freeze, which was clarified by Milwaukee VA Medical Center Director Jim McLain, who said open positions are being filled, but that the facility needs to “draw back to where we were at the start of the year.”
Jackson agreed, saying there are positions, particularly on the medical side, that need to be filled.
To that end, she said work is taking place to streamline the hiring process. “It takes forever for no good reason,” she said. “I do think we’re going to have some ability (soon) to move these things faster.”
But the accolades definitely outweighed the concerns from the Veterans.
“I can’t say enough good things about this hospital and the way they treat us Vets,” one Veteran said of the Milwaukee VA Medical Center. “Every nurse, every doctor, every department. … The care is top-notch.”
And Jackson, who grew up in Poynette, Wis., said she was proud to hear that.
“It’s a particular kind of privilege to be able to come back to your home state and see how well everything is working here,” she said.