August 6, 2014
Las Vegas, NV - Congresswoman Dina Titus of Nevada’s First District, a Member of the House of Representatives Committee on Veterans Affairs, sent a letter to Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs Robert McDonald today to update the Secretary on the needs of Southern Nevada veterans and to request a meeting to discuss ways the VA can better serve them.
The full text of the letter can be found here:
August 6, 2014
Dear Secretary McDonald,
Congratulations on your recent confirmation as the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs. As you acknowledged during your confirmation hearing, this is a challenging but very important role. As a Member of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs and the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, I look forward to working with you on behalf of our nation’s heroes and am confident that you will mend the VA to fully restore the nation’s trust in this critical organization. I hope we will have open and candid discussions, and I am committed to ensuring you have all of the necessary resources and authorities to carry out your mission.
At this time, I am writing to bring you up to date on Nevada specific concerns and to request a meeting with you, either in Washington or in Las Vegas, to discuss the needs of veterans in Southern Nevada. As you know, veterans in Las Vegas are served by the Reno VA Regional Office (RO). The Reno RO is one of the worst performing RO’s in the country, plagued by deficiencies in leadership, poor customer service, and significant turnover of employees. Veterans in Southern Nevada are currently waiting close to 300 days for their claims to be adjudicated. While the office has seen some improvements in its performance metrics, this is largely the result of the brokering initiative. Without sending half of their workload to other stations, the backlog at the Reno RO would be significantly worse. I appreciate that members of your senior leadership, especially Under Secretary Allison Hickey, have paid close personal attention to the Reno RO, and I look forward to a collaborative effort to make the office more efficient and responsive to the needs of veterans in Nevada.
Veterans in Southern Nevada have also had difficulty accessing health care at our local VA facilities. The VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System has faced a multitude of challenges opening the new Las Vegas VA hospital. The VHA projected that demand for care at the new facility would grow 2-3%, but the actual increase in demand was close to 20%. A new emergency department is currently under construction because the original facility lacked the necessary capacity to address urgent care needs. The facility has also struggled to recruit and retain specialists which has resulted in veterans travelling to California to receive care.
Included in the pending legislation to address the emergency at the VHA is a bill I introduced, H.R. 4942, the Underserved Veterans Access to Health Care Act. This legislation will add new Graduate Medical Education (GME) slots at the Veterans Health Administration. These new residency slots would be best utilized in areas of the country that are currently experiencing physician shortages, such as Las Vegas. Adding these residency slots in Las Vegas will help build a strong team of physicians to meet current and future demands for care. I believe that the situation is improving, but your personal attention would be appreciated.
I thank you for your attention and look forward to partnering with you as you begin your tenure as Secretary.
Sincerely,
Dina Titus
Member of Congress