(Tribune News Service) — Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough appeared at a congressional field hearing chaired by U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) at the Oahu Veterans Center.
The head of the Department of Veterans Affairs testified on Oahu Wednesday about the state of health services in Hawaii and issues including staff shortages, women’s care and complaints from community clinic providers about payments.
Hawaii is home to an estimated 100,000 veterans spread across Oahu and 30,000 veterans on the neighbor islands. All are served by the Oahu-based VA Pacific Islands Healthcare System, which is also responsible for providing care to all veterans across the U.S. Pacific island territories of American Samoa, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
“Health care of all kinds is in short supply throughout the Pacific islands and Hawaii,” McDonough said. “We’ve made hiring and retention one of our top priorities, to make sure that we’re both attracting and keeping great medical professionals to serve Hawaiian vets.”
He said that nationwide the department estimates it will need to hire 45,000 nurses over the next three years. “July was the first month of this calendar year that we hired more nurses than we lost through retirements or through leaving to go to other other health care systems,” McDonough said.
He credited the newly passed Retention and Income Security Enhancement Act — or RAISE Act — for giving the VA more options on giving raises and bonuses. Currently the entire country is facing a shortage of nurses that has put a strain on hospitals and clinics.
“One thing we have to do better on, and this is squarely on me, we have to hire faster, onboard more quickly and get them providing care,” McDonough said.
During the hearing Hirono noted statistics that show that Asian American and Pacific Islander veterans have the highest suicide rates of any demographic. The VA has invested $1.5 million in a study on the issue in Hawaii.
Pacific Islanders served in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in particularly high numbers. A study of 2003 recruiting data found that Pacific Islanders joined the Army at a rate 249% higher than that of other ethnic groups, and that American Samoa has consistently had among the highest enlistment rates of anywhere in the United States.
“Suicide prevention continues to be our number one clinical priority, ” McDonough said. In 2020 roughly 6,000 veterans across the country died by suicide, but while McDonough said the number needs to be brought to zero, he noted that number showed a decrease of 220 from 2019, which itself was a decrease from 2018.
The VA’s Pacific health care system has unique challenges.
Outside of the Spark M. Matsunaga VA Medical Center on the grounds of Tripler Army Medical Center, it has few facilities of its own, relying on partnerships with community clinics. A new clinic on Oahu’s Leeward side named after the late U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka — who spent years unsuccessfully pushing to get it funded and built — is finally under construction but will not be ready for operations until at least late next year.
Overall, McDonough painted an optimistic picture of the VA’s efforts on the national level to streamline its handling of claims and referrals for patients, with 33 million completed community care appointments.
“Now, we’re not where we need to be on the untimely scheduling of those referrals, (but) we’re making…
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