Measures to streamline care, VA secretary says

Computerized record systems also are being updated.
WASHINGTON POST
WASHINGTON -- Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson on Tuesday announced measures intended to "streamline" the care and benefits given to veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the latest military health care reform promised by the Bush administration.
An interagency task force chaired by Nicholson recommended to President Bush that all Iraq and Afghanistan veterans treated in VA health care facilities be screened for traumatic brain injury, which the secretary called "one of the signature injuries" of the conflicts.
Nicholson briefed Bush on the group's report on Monday, he said. "He accepted our recommendations," he added.
Nicholson said the VA and Pentagon must work to prevent injured servicemembers from falling into bureaucratic crevices during their transition from military hospitals to veterans facilities. Toward that end, he said, computerized record systems are being improved to better track veterans.
"If we can track a package in this country and know where it is at any given time, we certainly should be able to track a human being," Nicholson said at the National Press Club.
What's called for
The top Republican on the House Committee on Veterans Affairs called Tuesday for Defense Secretary Robert Gates to act on the recommendation for better coordination between the VA and Defense Department.
"The ball is in the defense secretary's court," Rep. Steve Buyer, R-Ind., said in a statement. "For a decade, VA has worked to ensure seamless transition, usually without commensurate efforts by the Pentagon."
Nicholson's task force, which included officials from eight government agencies, was established March 6 by Bush in response to reports of problems in the long-term care given to injured troops and veterans. The task force looked at ways to fix the system "without new laws or new money," said Nicholson.
A separate presidential commission, chaired by former Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kansas, and Donna Shalala, secretary of health and human services under President Bill Clinton, is looking at longer-term solutions. The panel is expected to issue its report in late July.
Bush directed that Nicholson coordinate the task force findings with those of the Dole-Shalala commission, the VA secretary said.
The audience at the National Press Club included servicemembers and veterans who have been wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Michael Jernigan, a retired Marine who lost his vision in Iraq in 2004, said he welcomed the task force findings, but he added that little could be done unless the VA is given more funding.
"It's an uphill battle," said Jernigan, who attended with his guide dog, Brittany. "They're trying to do the impossible with nothing."
Cpl. James Bone, an injured Marine being treated at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., said it was terrible "that it took so long" for veterans to have their complaints addressed. "Finally their voices are being heard," he added.