On his way back from visiting Veterans and local officials in Guam and Hawaii last week, Secretary Shinseki made a few stops in Alaska over Memorial Day weekend. His itinerary included the cities of Bethel and Anchorage, along with the village of Kwigillingok.
Because VA is committed to providing the best services available to Veterans in rural areas, this trip was an important one for Secretary Shinseki to take. As he told the Anchorage Daily News:
Alaska has the highest concentration of veterans in the country, with 17 percent of the state population identified as such. Some 77,000 veterans live in Alaska.
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Okay, so I was all set to complain about the absolute lack of content in this article, then I clicked on the link. I never knew the Office of Rural Health website existed. I believe the VA has come a long way in servicing rural vets, and thanks for the efforts.
The big complaint I have about the ORH page is it’s filled with ‘six sigma’ jargon. If you would like to reach rural vets better, simplify everything. No studies are needed, this will only lead to more wasted money. I’m sure Dr. Skupien is a very intelligent woman, but you could probably learn a lot more about solving rural health issues by sitting down with someone who lives in a rural area for ten minutes or so.
With all the plans and studies listed, wouldn’t it just be easier to pay existing healthcare providers for treatment to veterans? It would probably save a lot of money in the long run.
Oh, and the VA’s going to use telehealth technologies? How about we try fixing the electronic claims processing and the Blue Button/ MyHealthevet first, to demonstrate that the VA can use 20th century technology before having vets rely on it for healthcare.