VA Hospitals Improving But Not There Yet: Blumenthal

After marching in the Stratford Memorial Day Parade, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal said Veterans' Affairs hospitals still need to take major strides a years after the scandal that cost the agency's secretary his job.

“We are still falling way short of providing the care that our veterans need to keep pace with our veterans," said Blumenthal. "Particularly in mental health care, we lose 22 veterans a day to post-traumatic stress and the invisible wounds of war."

Early last year, the Arizona Republican reported on long wait lines for VA beneficiaries to see doctors and said online tracking records had been falsified to make it look as if the wait times had in fact decreased.

The scandal eventually cost then-VA Secretary Eric Shinseki his job. Congress then acted on several reforms meant to improve services and outcomes for VA patients, such as cutting down wait times and even allowing some patients to see private doctors if they meet certain criteria.

Blumenthal said there have been efforts to take funds from Connecticut Hospitals in efforts to shore up resources in places where VA facilities have significantly lagged like Arizona, Alabama and Colorado.

"I will not allow that to happen," Blumenthal said. "I will fight any effort to short change our veterans in health care, particularly mental health care, to compensate for the shortcomings in other states."

Bob Johnson, a Vietnam veteran and current Veterans of Foreign Wars commander in Stratford who marched with Blumenthal, said he was in awe of the show of support at the Stratford parade those who lost their lives in combat.

"I was taken aback," he said.

Johnson has volunteered at the West Haven VA Hospital in recent years working with the blind unit as they use kayaks and rowing to help the disabled.

He said programs like that have improved outcomes and other veterans have told him the same in general about conditions at the VA.

"The care is getting better, yes it is. The people, the government who have made the changes, the care at the VA hospitals is much better it was a year ago," he said.

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