OKC VA Co-hosts Tribal Women Veterans Summit

The event was hosted by Chickasaw Nation, US Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs. The event was open to all women veterans, tribal groups and health care offices that serve women veterans.

Attendees received important information and updates on women veterans health care and VA Disability Claims with gender specific information. A Women Veterans Mental Health Panel discussed traumatic brain injuries, post-traumatic stress disorder, military sexual trauma, and intimate/domestic partner violence.

“The information presented at this summit not only benefited women veterans, but was information that benefited those that serve them,” said Tribal Government Relations Specialist Mary Culley. “We want women veterans to access the full range of benefits they have courageously earned through their service.”

Women are now the fastest-growing subgroup of U.S. veterans. In fiscal year 2017, the state of Oklahoma had 29,100 women veterans with that number expected to increase dramatically in the next 10 years.

Oklahoma City VA Health Care System ensures that every woman veteran has access to a VA primary care provider and women’s health team who can meet all her primary care needs. This includes prevention and care for acute and chronic disease, gender-specific, and mental health care in the context of a continuous patient-clinician relationship. VA leads the nation in breast cancer screening rates and has outperformed non-VA health care systems in breast cancer screenings for more than 15 years.

For information about available VA services, benefits, and resources for Women Veterans, visit https://www.va.gov/womenvet/ or https://www.benefits.va.gov/persona/veteran-women.asp