Transcript

VA in Motion

From the earliest days of our countries history, there have been wars.
And as a nation we have always recognized the debt of the ode to our
warriors. Our payment of this debt has a history as rich and dynamic as
our country itself. It is marked by progress, achievement, and motion,
always motion. This is the story of the Department of Veteran's Affairs.

America has always provided benefits to those who have defended. Early
benefits mainly took the form of grants or pensions for those who were
disabled in battle. By the close of the civil war, a new vision was
emerging. In his second inaugural address in 1865, President Abraham
Lincoln called upon congress to care for him who shall have borne the
battle and for his widow and his orphan. Soon after, congress authorized
national asylums for disabled volunteer soldiers. And with increasing
pressure from organized veteran groups, congress passed the dependent
pension act in 1890. This expanded pension benefits substantially.
Within three years nearly one million veterans received things. As the
country moved into the 20^th^ century and fought the 1^st^ World War.
The number of veterans increased dramatically. Yet services continued to
focus on those who were disabled. A soldier who returned home disabled
received a pension and was eligible for vocational training. A soldier
who returned home got little more than a train ticket home. Many had
difficulty adjusting to civilian life. Veterans service organizations
lobbied congress to issue bonuses to those who served over seas during
the conflict. In 1924, Congress responded with an adjusted service
credit worth about 1500 dollars. But there was a catch; the bonus was
not payable for 20 years. In 1932 at the height of the Great Depression,
World War 1 Veterans took dramatic steps in attempt to force congress to
pay the bonus. 20,000 Veterans marched to Washington. They built a
shanty town of tents and shacks. Then they settled in with their
families to wait for congress to change its mind. Weeks went by, finally
the US Army cleared out the shanty town with bayonets, tear gas and
tanks. The flames of destruction lit the night sky around the capital.
With the burning veteran shanty town still vivid in the nation's memory;
Congress confronted the issue of the veterans returning from the 2^nd^
World War. If the nation had trouble helping four million World War 1
Veterans adjust to civilian life. How would it handle the 16 million
coming home from the latest conflict? The result was the Service Men's
Readjustment Act of 1944, better known as the GI Bill of Rights. The GI
Bill was by far the most comprehensive package of veteran's benefits to
date; providing college tuition, home loans, and unemployment benefits.
The GI Bill has been called one of the most significant pieces of
Legislation in our countries history. It had great impact on shaping the
life of the nation in the modern era. Of course administrating the
programs of the GI Bill was a colossal task. The Veterans administration
established in 1930 grew to meet the challenge. For Korean War veterans
far fewer in number than in the World War 2 predecessors. The programs
of the GI Bill were little changed and helped this group move back into
society. It was different for Vietnam Veterans. These were young
soldiers, many of them in combat at the tender ages of 18 or 19. They
returned from an unpopular war to a silent and even hostile public.
While the programs of the GI Bill worked well for most Vietnam Veterans
there was a significant minority who needed a different kind of
assistance. And so VA moved in a new direction, community based
counseling and other outreach programs were established to help these
veterans rediscover their place in society. Though recent decades has
seen an easing of world tensions and a gradual decline in the number of
US Veterans, the VA pace has not slowed. An aging veteran population,
increasing number of women veterans, and medical conditions including
aids, Alzheimer's disease, and post dramatic stress disorder; all
demanded new responses from VA. Significant administrative changes also
mark this time period. In 1973 the National Cemetery Service was moved
from the Department of the Army to VA. And in 1989 VA was moved up to
the level of a Cabinet Agency; The Department of Veterans Affairs. More
than 200 Years of motion and progress had brought veterans issues to a
deserved place of honor at the table with the president's top advisors.

Technological advances of recent years have changed the face of warfare.
Now we've moved into a new era of highly skilled highly specialized
warriors. Our pace has quickened, we move faster and faster still. And
while technology means that modern wars may be far for the distance it
also means that VA has new opportunities to bring care and services to a
closer more individual level. A man or woman leaving the service today
has many resources and opportunities available through VA to help him or
her move successfully into civilian life. Educational benefits help pay
the cost of college courses to enable veterans to compete in today's
high tech business world. Guaranteed home loans with no down payment
required help make the dream of home ownership a reality. VA always in
motion moves with the veteran throughout his or her life, reaching out
to ensure that the veteran has easy access to benefits and services. VA
operates more than 200 community based vet centers, where veterans can
obtain counseling and referrals and link up with those who share their
experiences and concerns. But VA's effort to reach out to veterans
doesn't stop there. In a number of cities VA operates mobile clinics
designed to help address the physical and mental needs of homeless and
incapacitated veterans. Counselors travel directly to the veterans and
file claims for benefits right from the van. VA is constantly on the
move and seeks the same mobility for all veterans. Lolling at the
forefront in the design and production of artificial limbs, VA leads the
country perhaps even the world in the creation of the new and better
prosthesis. Using a computer driven design process, skilled specialists
create exactly the replacement needed to give disabled veterans restored
mobility, revived productivity, and a renewed sense of self. Each year
VA provided some one million veterans with prosthetic devices. For many
of them, it opens the door for a way of life that wouldn't have been
considered possible even 20 years ago. Regardless of the veteran's age,
VA is there. And today VA provides the worlds most comprehensive and
diverse program of services and benefits for veterans and their
dependence. More than half of VA's annual budget goes to education,
disability compensation, and pension benefits. About 43% is used to
provide medical care, and less than 3% is used for construction and
operating expenses. It's a big budget for a large and important job.
Today's veteran population is estimated at more than 24 million. All
together about 70 million people in the United States are veterans,
dependence of veterans, or survivors of deceased veterans. All of those
people, about 1 out of 4 Americans are potentially eligible for VA
benefits and services. In fact, VA also touches the lives of
non-veterans in some pretty surprising ways. Visited your doctor lately?
Did you know that more than one third of all American doctors have
received some or all of their training through VA.? So have thousands of
nurses, physiologists and other health care professionals. VA maintains
affiliations with more than 1,200 educational institutions, including
107 medical schools. VA's affiliations with these schools ensure that
the veteran's health care system attracts and retains the most qualified
medical staff, and provides the highest quality patient care. It also
helps our country maintain one of the most technologically advanced
healthcare systems in the world. And while VA is a leader in creating
and implementing new technology, the focus remains on service to each
individual veteran. It's technology with a human touch. VA reaches out
to veterans where they live and remembers who they are. VA has taken a
step back in time to treat Native American veterans suffering from post
dramatic stress disorder. The traditional sweat lodge and its associated
ceremonies, long a source of reflection and renewal for Native Americans
has been used to treat post dramatic stress disorder. And so when
appropriate VA uses sweat lodges as part of a readjustment counseling
and therapy program for its Native American clients. Clearly the faces
and needs of American Veterans are as varied as the terrain of the
country they have served. Yet and increasingly large portion of the
veteran population is sharing the common experience of old age. In the
response of the growing population of older veterans, VA has created its
special program tailored to their needs. VA provides geriatric
evaluation and management, home-based primary care, adult day health
care, respic care and hospice care, as well as traditional nursing care.
VA has emerged as a national leader in geriatric care and performs
pioneering research in areas such as; Alzheimer's disease, stroke, heart
attacks and cancer. And to ensure that all veterans and their families
have easy access to services, VA is making a substantial investment in
state of the art computer systems and in training people to operate
them. With millions of veterans eligible to such a broad array of
benefits and services the amount of paperwork is daunting. Or is it? VA
is experimenting with an innovative paperless claims processing system
that could pave the way for greater efficiency. It will also likely
blaze a trail for similar systems in government and private industry. So
while VA is constantly in motion to deliver high quality technologically
advances services, there are times when the human touch works best.
Helping integrate veterans into their communities has always been a key
goal of VA. And so VA works with dozens of volunteer organizations to
bring the community to the veteran. Sometimes it's hard to tell who
gains the greatest benefit. Volunteers serve veterans through out VA; in
hospitals, offices, even in cemeteries where the assist the military
services in providing final honors to veterans. Va's national cemeteries
complete the cycle of service to the veteran. VA operates national
cemeteries throughout the country and is building more to meet a growing
need. Each year the remains of more than 77,000 veterans and their
family members are interd. More than 2.3 million grave sites under VA's
faithful constant care. Each year more than 10 million people visit our
national cemeteries. VA is dedicated to expanding the national cemetery
administration to ensure space for all veterans who choose to be buried
in these national shrines. And so, the Department of Veterans Affairs
serves a lifetime of needs, with benefits, health care and memorial
affairs programs. VA today is more than 200,000 men and women working
together to meet a nation obligation to its defenders. VA's working
staff is working hard today and every day to deliver to veterans all
that is owed them because of their service to their country.

As we enter the 21's century it's clear that VA will remain in motion.
To meet the needs of veterans and the demands of the tax paying public,
VA must move at an ever quickening pace to provide high quality care in
the most cost effective manor possible. For the future, VA seeks not to
respond to change but to anticipate it. Not to adapt to change, but to
drive it. For this reason, VA is a national leader in medical research;
from the creation of computerized lens implants for blind veterans to
the treatment of hepatitis, aids, substance addiction, and paralysis. VA
research covers an incredible range of medical challenges. VA is also
deeply involved in research on mental health issues such as post
dramatic stress disorder, schizophrenia, and the effects of war trauma
on women. VA's research efforts have helped and will continue to help
not only veterans, but all Americans. And over the long term, VA
research not only improves patient care but also lowers medical costs as
more efficient treatment methods are established. It's an investment in
the future that will pay off for the entire nation. What will VA look
like in the future? You might be surprised at the innovation you'd find
right now. At some VA medical facilities doctors work with real time
medical records. The patient and doctor meet in the exam room, the
doctor brings up the patients health history on the computer, conditions
are diagnosed, discussed and entered. Drugs are prescribed, follow up
visits are scheduled. Right there right now complete, accurate fast.
Ever have to wait for an x ray? This may soon be a thing of the past at
VA facilities as computerized radiology becomes more common. There is no
film to get lost of damaged. All x-rays are kept in the patient's
computerized file. Teller medicine is another innovation that is
improving and cutting the cost of VA medical care. Through teller
medicine, specialists can assist in the examination, diagnosis, and
treatment of patients hundreds of miles away. Teller medicine means that
rural physicians now have access to experts across the country.
Treatment programs now become more precise, and patients are spared the
complexities of expensive transfers away from their home communities.
Teller medicine also provides a way of monitoring patient's chronic
conditions that live away from metropolitan areas. VA installs a special
computer monitor in the patient's home. This allows a teller medicine
nurse to monitor the veterans pulse and blood pressure, as well as heart
and lung sounds right over the telephone lines. Teller medicine is
already proving to reduce hospital stays and make medical care more
efficient and comfortable for the patient, and less expensive as well.
Bar coding a prescription medication is another break through for VA.
First a doctor uses a desk top computer to order a patients medicine,
the nurse receives the medication from the pharmacy, then scans the
patients wristband and the medication. An error message will appear if
it's the wrong drug, dose, or time. If no error message appears, the
nurse dispenses the drug and enters the information on the computer,
where it will remain part of the patient's computerized file. Bar coding
of medication improves record keeping and helps avoid potentially
dangerous errors. Surely these types of innovations will be common in
healthcare within the next decade. VA is in motion to lead the way
today. Still VA's mission, however high tech its delivery will remain
focused on caring for the veteran as an individual. An increasing
portion of those individuals are women. By 2010, more than 1 in 10
veterans will be female. VA is responding with services and programs
specific to the needs of women. VA has established 8 comprehensive
women's health centers, as well as the first of its kind, women's health
science division. This division conducts clinical research on trauma
related problems of women veterans. And to meet the needs of all its
clients, VA is working hard to integrate its operations so that all of
its programs work together seamlessly and cost effectively to deliver
value to veterans and their dependence. Veterans will no longer have to
wait until after leaving military service to establish eligibility with
VA. VA benefit offices and medical centers are working with military
installations around the country to process applications and conduct
physical exams to establish benefit eligibility before service men and
women leave active duty. It's just one more way VA is working to ensure
swift and seamless service to US veterans. The Department of Veterans
Affairs in motion; yesterday, today, and for tomorrow. Changing,
growing, reaching, achieving; all in the name of service to those who
have served us all.