Department of Veterans Affairs - Obama Presidency Oral History Back Department of Veterans Affairs Index / Organizations Transcripts Melissa Winter ...different cities—a retirement home, a VA [Department of Veterans Affairs] post... ...cities—a retirement home, a VA [ Department of Veterans Affairs ] post. She was just—she was startin... Matthew Doherty ...into a 25 Cities Initiative that the VA [Department of Veterans Affairs] led... ...a 25 Cities Initiative that the VA [ Department of Veterans Affairs ] led, and USICH and HUD [Department o... ...but that's continued since, of the HUD- VA Supportive Housing program, throug... ...program, through HUD-funded subsidies, VA -delivered services for veterans wit... ...working relationship between USICH, VA , and HUD to make sure those resource... ...mostly still, honestly, within HUD and VA about what could happen rapidly, an... ...the scale of resources and because the VA is its own service and healthcar... ...for veterans it really was USICH, HUD, VA primarily driving the working group... ...well, had worked very closely with VA senior staff around the 25 Citie... Show more... David Shulkin ...who served as ninth secretary of the US Department of Veterans Affairs [VA]. Secretary Shulkin previousl... ...the US Department of Veterans Affairs [ VA ]. Secretary Shulkin previously serve... ...the hat for the undersecretary of the VA in 2010. That's a process that i... ...to then meet with the secretary of the VA at that time, Secretary Eric Shinseki... ...increased visibility, not only on the VA but on those critical leadershi... ...the recognition of the needs of the VA were. My belief is that everything tha... ...that I talked about and brought to the VA in 2015 was pretty obvious to me i... ...things were going okay, and that the VA system was doing well. In 2014 and '15... ...getting to meet the secretary of the VA . In 2014, the secretary of the VA wa... ...the VA. In 2014, the secretary of the VA was Bob McDonald. I had a chance t... ...the changes that were going to fix the VA system? The process from when th... ...what was actually happening at the VA , and whether I thought the plans tha... ...person, who was a staff person from the Department of Veterans Affairs , would make appointments with me t... ...was assigned a staff member from the Department of Veterans Affairs , who would accompany me to meeting... ...in their different parts of the Department of Veterans Affairs , so I could become more knowledgeabl... ...fifth, I was the undersecretary of the VA . There was no transition. Th... ...or did they have routine problems? The VA was unprepared to answer that question... ...the infrastructure within the VA itself. Well, like in many comple... ...that I did was, I changed the way that VA doctors could order consults fo... ...country, with no exceptions, every VA medical center would remain open an... ...an issue that had been discussed in the Department of Veterans Affairs for quite some time prior to m... ...most controversial issues when I got to VA , I found out no one was willing t... ...give me information, and people in the VA would give me information that wa... ...in Dublin, Georgia, where I went to the VA , and there were lots of veteran... ...I personally would see patients in the VA . I'd put on a stethoscope and whit... ...the way that the morale within the VA structure can shift depending on who i... ...culture itself that was created at the VA , was during your tenure a... ...to the veteran community and to the VA . They didn't feel that they coul... ...interest of veterans to break apart the VA . But when I walked in there, tha... ... Once I began to see patients in the VA system, I began to understand why th... ...system, I began to understand why the VA was so important. I began to understan... ...that the types of patients that VA saw were different than I would see a... ...and comprehensive care that the VA provided that, frankly, is no... ...to viscerally experience why the VA needed to exist, the type of peopl... ...done that, either. When I came to the VA , I had never used an electroni... ...whether I was going to keep the entire VA electronic health record or whether ... ...that decision if I had never used the VA system. So I understood it. I knew wh... ...Make me feel good that we have a great VA , so do a show-and-tell. That'... ...on weekends. I did the same thing at VA . In the Chicago VA, I went at on... ...when they took their lives, and how the VA had failed them in helping them. So i... ...said, “I'm a homeless veteran, and the VA is unwilling to give me the suppor... ...that this person was having, how the VA was not helping him in those problems... ...decisions that don't want to be made. VA had a very effective tool usin... ...life, only six were getting care in the VA system. That meant that fourteen wer... ...the community, and we can't do that by VA alone.” So I started to enlis... ...of an outdated architecture that the VA was built on. Do you feel like you mad... ...of the electronic medical record at VA not speaking to the electronic healt... ...left the military and came to the VA system; the fact that we needed to d... ...a decision. I was moving away from the VA system to a modern infrastructure tha... ...group that wanted to destroy the VA , called—the Koch brothers... ...all at once. Unfortunately, the VA , when I entered it, had to deal wit... ...services. So things that the VA did better than the private sector... ...I use the example of eyeglasses. In the VA , it would take three weeks to get ... ...I was creating two systems in the VA , a private sector system, and a... ...future generations and to change the VA . Secondly, on the specia... ...of the issues that existed in the VA , they needed women's centers. And w... ...had been seen as a very male-dominated VA . And I wanted to change that. So w... ...in the system are real, but that the VA actually does a better job than wha... ...there are less of those issues in the VA . But it didn't mean that there weren'... ...described as creating a sustainable VA , and can you expand on what tha... ...give you more money. I always said, the VA 's problem is not money. It has mor... ...to be in office to say, Why is the VA getting, now, 240 billion dollars ... ...against the sustainability of the VA , in my opinion. So I wanted to tak... ...that, I've come to the belief that the VA 's structure and governance is wrong... ...need a new governance structure of the VA . It needs to have its own board o... ...for how to run the future VA system. This happened at the time o... ...The Choice Act basically said, when the VA can no longer meet the needs o... ...changes; the Accountability Act [ Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblowe... Show more... Ginger Miller ...on Minority Veterans at the US Department of Veterans Affairs [VA], and commissioner of the Marylan... ...the US Department of Veterans Affairs [ VA ], and commissioner of the Marylan... ...support groups for veterans, go to the VA , get treatment for PTSD. But we'r... ...it really wasn't. So, you go to the VA , and I think he did thirty days in th... ...and I think he did thirty days in the VA hospital. They overmedicated him. I... ...I wouldn't know where to look. The VA had all kinds of programs for homeles... ...navigate a disability claim through the VA . How is that experience playing out a... ...saying, “Oh, make sure you go to the VA and put your claim in.” So I did sig... ...Office also said that the VA was having a hard time reaching wome... ...time reaching them. So I invited the VA to come to that event, and it started ... ...Women Veterans Interactive and the VA . We did a survey with the Universit... ...or two weeks until we get you to the VA , and let the VA fix you up, and the... ...until we get you to the VA, and let the VA fix you up, and then you go into a V... ...VA fix you up, and then you go into a VA program. Or, maybe you're homeles... ...women veterans that you wanted the VA to take note of—how do you find the... ...make it worth your while. So here's the VA , here's B3 Group to talk about th... ...the last six women veterans over to the VA , and you'll have an opportunity t... ...that I told you about with the Department of Veterans Affairs . Called the VA, and said, “Look, thi... ...of Veterans Affairs. Called the VA , and said, “Look, this is the issue... ...Because there's something in the VA that says, if somebody is facin... ...funds or have—?” Long story short, the VA did her claim within two weeks, gav... ...you talk about that point of need, the VA has a great program, SSVF [Supportiv... ...Safety Net program we could meet the VA halfway. So, we could take her down... ...talk about the federal government, the VA is getting better at supporting wome... ...women veterans centers in a lot of the VA medical centers. But on the other hand... ...you have women veterans who go to the VA medical centers and are being harassed... ...nature. So they don't want to go to the VA to get their services. But if you hav... ...you talk about the institution at the VA —the VA's an institution. All of thes... ...about the institution at the VA—the VA 's an institution. All of thes... ...if women veterans are not going to the VA , if the women veterans are not goin... Show more... BriGette McCoy ...as part of you seeking care through the VA [Department of Veterans Affairs], o... ...of you seeking care through the VA [ Department of Veterans Affairs ], or other support networks fo... ...sought consistent medical care from the VA . I had attempted to interact with th... ...I had attempted to interact with the VA in 1992, I think it was. The challeng... ...of, Hey, we're welcoming women into the VA . So when I went, I only got just stuf... ...experienced sexual trauma navigate the VA . It was a stealthy little thing... ...or conversations about navigating the VA that people were looking for at tha... ...Women didn't want to be harassed at the VA . They wanted to be able to go to th... ...VA. They wanted to be able to go to the VA and not get catcalled or ge... ...a litany of challenges. Going into the VA and having a female exam, and you... ...exam. Sexual assault happening in the VA by doctors and medical staff. I mean... ...realize, when you're dealing with the VA and trying to—I use the wor... ...and I'm not going to have to fight the VA . I didn't necessarily connect the dot... ...on. The mental health piece for the VA . A lot of women were getting on... ...to the school and getting to the VA . I'm in Atlanta [laughs], so that's ... ...things related to sexual trauma and the VA health care, and things of that nature... ...the right type of birth control at the VA , even though that's where I go ge... Show more... Earl Smith ...assume the meeting with McDonald at the VA [Veterans Affairs] happened the da... ...many, many years, I wouldn't go to the VA hospital for any kind of services... ...seeing a lot of good things from the VA and the medical attention. I do wan... ...improvements was the improvement of the VA hospitals and medical care. There'... ...that. What's your history with the VA , especially maybe around your hearin... ...that pounding, but I know that the VA has good people that really care abou... ...of veterans policy, in terms of the VA . Did you follow any of the decisio... Show more... Max Baucus ...we did not have jurisdiction over the VA [Department of Veterans Affairs]—an... Craig Fugate ...parts of the country, and then the VA [US Department of Veterans Affairs] fo... ...of the country, and then the VA [US Department of Veterans Affairs ] for their loan programs, as well a... ...centers when you had to go to the VA , you had to go to SBA [Small Busines... Harold Varmus ...that were already underway at the VA [Department of Veterans Affairs] ; a... ...that were already underway at the VA [ Department of Veterans Affairs ] ; at the UK Biobank, which starte... ...the base that had been developed in the VA , with a large patient population tha... Load more Transcripts Related Topics go to the Obama in the Senate Obama in the Senate go to the Elections and Campaigns Elections and Campaigns go to the The People's House The People's House go to the Russia Russia go to the Education Education