Department of Veterans Affairs - Obama Presidency Oral History Back Department of Veterans Affairs Index / Organizations Transcripts Heather Linebaugh ...difficult for me to find help in the VA [Department of Veterans Affairs], an... ...for me to find help in the VA [ Department of Veterans Affairs ], and they've also done a lot o... Rob Nabors ...and chief of staff at the United States Department of Veterans Affairs [VA]. This is our first session. I... ...States Department of Veterans Affairs [ VA ]. This is our first session. In thi... ...and chief of staff of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs . This is our second session. In thi... ...[laughs] that's fine. Or, “Rob, why is VA broken?” “I don't know, Mr. President.... ...willing to do that. When I went over to VA , the big issue was a hospital i... ...and chief of staff of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs . This is our third session. In thi... ...to problems at the United States Department of Veterans Affairs . And I wanted to start by asking yo... ...on.” The answer that came back from VA was probably the worst-possible answe... ...part is that it took days for VA to get back to us as to what wa... ...furniture talking to the folks at VA preparing to give the president a... ...you go, why don't you help get a VA secretary on board. Let's figure ou... ...Impacting Access to Timely Care at VA Medical Facilities.” I wanted to as... ...about the sheer size of the VA system. Are there things that stand ou... ...to say about healthcare—as a whole, VA is at a disadvantage because as ... ...to cover up my grandfather's death in a VA facility. All of which was true: m... ...was true: my grandfather did die in a VA facility. But he died of being reall... ...he was in long-term care in the VA facility. So there was no cover-u... ...But for most people outside of the VA health system, if you see a docto... ...and veterans who are in the care of the VA system on the one hand? And acknowledg... ...are just the laws of big numbers. The VA healthcare system is probably th... ...hundred thousand people work at the Department of Veterans Affairs . VA runs two thousand hospitals. Yes... ...at the Department of Veterans Affairs. VA runs two thousand hospitals. Yes... ...that people wanted me to write was “ VA Killed a Bunch of People.” The repor... ...The report that needed to be said was “ VA Is Broken.” I'm not saying it led t... ...not saying it led to people dying. But VA is broken, and it needs to be fixed... ...mentioned you stayed on at the VA as chief of staff after that initia... ...you wanted to change the culture of the VA ? I wanted to be sharper o... ...largely accurate. The vast majority of VA patients were significantly older tha... ...older than at any point in VA 's history, because it's really th... ...veterans were using it. That led to a VA system that was being dominated by... ... That's a problem; because most VA facilities were not set up to take car... ...number of people who were eligible for VA care that were priority types for V... ...VA care that were priority types for VA care has increased. Congress an... ...kept expanding rules as to who can get VA care. Once upon a time, it was peopl... ...who has served can get access to VA care. But you also continue to hav... ...Tricare system. He could've gone to a VA healthcare system as well. I don't eve... ...I don't even know where the closest VA hospital would've been to him. But h... ...The people who tended to show up at the VA , because of VA's reputation, tended t... ...tended to show up at the VA, because of VA 's reputation, tended to be the peopl... ...to go. My father always looked at the VA hospital as a tremendous benefit, but... ...other thing that was going on is that VA tends to be the place where, as peopl... ...with the benefits. If you go to a VA facility, you can get a lot of stuf... ...the Department of the Interior, the Department of Veterans Affairs is the largest owner of histori... ...the world. They've never done BRAC for VA . And VA actually has the same sorts o... ...They've never done BRAC for VA. And VA actually has the same sorts of issues... ...others needed to reshape and reform the VA . In some ways yes, and in some way... ...to go to private care and to have VA pay for it. That just created chao... ...It's just a complicated thing. And VA didn't have the mechanisms set up t... ...go over there that often, except in a VA capacity. I was full time, all day... Show more... Bob Kocher ...about half of hospitals were, and the VA [Department of Veterans Affairs] wer... ...half of hospitals were, and the VA [ Department of Veterans Affairs ] were using electronic medical record... ...you like government care like the VA ?” People were like, “No.” “Would yo... Kevin Concannon ...family had received from a couple of VA social workers for my brother wit... Kathleen Sebelius ...Shinseki, who was the head of the VA [Department of Veterans Affairs] an... ...Shinseki, who was the head of the VA [ Department of Veterans Affairs ] and me, and I think Hilda Solis fro... ...site, because there was a new VA being built in Louisiana, but outsid... ...Shinseki was going to talk about the VA , and Hilda was talking about jo... Diane Johnson ...But it doesn't matter. We need the VA to address the mental health of th... ...we were very successful with Lyons [ VA Medical Center], which is a veteran'... Kathleen Merrigan ...Agency] was thinking, how even the VA [Department of Veterans Affairs] wa... ...Agency] was thinking, how even the VA [ Department of Veterans Affairs ] was thinking about what they could d... Jocelyn Frye ...around the Defense Department and the VA [Department of Veterans Affairs]—thos... Load more Transcripts Related Topics go to the Science Science go to the Climate, Environment, and Energy Climate, Environment, and Energy go to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Nuclear Nonproliferation go to the Women and Girls Women and Girls go to the Middle East and North Africa Middle East and North Africa