Alaska News

Anchorage veterans give VA health care mixed grades at town hall meeting

At a town hall event Tuesday evening in Anchorage, Fred "Bulldog" Becker IV, a Vietnam veteran, stood up. "I'm going to jump on the bandwagon and beat up the VA," he quipped. Some in the crowd of about 50 in the Loussac Library Assembly Chambers laughed.

Becker and 15 or so other veterans randomly chosen to speak slung praises, criticisms and suggestions at staff from the Alaska VA Healthcare System, Veterans Benefits Administration and state's Office of Veterans Affairs who stood at the front of the room.

The meeting was Alaska's response to a mandate from new VA Secretary Bob McDonald that all VA hospitals and benefits offices nationwide host town hall meetings to rebuild trust after allegations of secret wait lists and mismanaged care unfolded this summer.

For Don Bradford, a 69-year-old veteran, the VA still hasn't delivered. In the second hour of the meeting, the Anchorage resident's number was pulled from the box. Bradford told the crowd that he began dealing with the Veterans Benefits Administration six months ago.

"I never thought I'd have anything to do with the VA. I am retired military. I've worked all my life. I was on my way to what, I thought, was a continuation of the good life," Bradford said, sitting in a wheelchair in the back of the room.

"I was thrown a slight curve ball in February," he said. He was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.

Bradford said he was encouraged to explore VA benefits -- what the country would give him in return for his eight years of active service in the U.S. Army. He said he tried to call the VBA but couldn't find any direct phone numbers, not online and not on paper handouts. There was an 800 phone number that produced mixed results: Sometimes he got answers and sometimes he did not, he said.

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"The reason I have a wheelchair is I stayed on top of it every few days," he said. "The reason I have a van to get me where I need to go is I stayed on top of it every few days. I followed up, I followed up, I followed up."

Since March, he said, he has waited on approval for a wooden ramp so he could get into his home. Eventually, his daughter and son-in-law built one. He still hasn't heard from the VBA, he said.

Jon Skelly, regional director of the VBA, told Bradford that the VA wants to give veterans the best care and "we have to get better."

Before Bradford spoke, Skelly had presented a slideshow and told the veterans that a combination of 10 years of war, an economic downturn and rules and laws that make it easier for veterans to receive benefits has pushed demand for VBA services far over their capabilities. The agency is still digging out, he said.

"We have a lot of work to do, and I'll be the first to admit it," he said.

He listed off grievances he's heard: "Your phone calls don't get answered as fast as you want … It's taking too long to add a dependent to your award. Your appeal has been waiting forever. It's a confusing process and it seems to go backward. We don't have enough people in the right places in the state. I understand all these things."

Bradford said there has been some progress. Since April 2013, the Anchorage VA Regional Office has decreased its backlog of disability claims from 2,014 to 338. An item is considered "backlogged" when it has been outstanding for more than 125 days, he said.

Michael Stanton, a 69-year-old veteran and a volunteer with the VA, brought up the high turnover rate of health care providers at the Mat-Su VA Community Based Outpatient Clinic in Wasilla. In the past year, he has seen five doctors. He has to explain his medical history over and over, he said, though he noted the care he received has been good.

At the Wasilla clinic, staffing has been an ongoing problem. Most recently, the VA moved a full-time nurse practitioner to the clinic after its three temporary providers' contracts ended and none decided to stay.

Susan Yeager, director of the Alaska VA Healthcare System, said the VA recently boosted the incentives packet in an effort to expedite the hiring process. Two weeks ago, it added to its advertisement for a physician and nurse practitioner that the VA will purchase homes for them in exchange for a length-of-service commitment.

At the end of the town hall meeting around 7:30 p.m., claims representatives were available to provide one-on-one assistance on veterans' individual cases.

On the way to his car, Gene Horner, Alaska state director of Bugles Across America, said he was disappointed with what he saw as a low turnout for the town hall in the state with the highest rate of veterans per capita..

He said he wished there were more Iraq and Afghanistan veterans in the room. The crowd was largely made up of older men and women who, he said, have more or less already untangled the VA system.

"Us older guys need to get on them to figure it out because it took us 30 years to figure it out," Horner, 68, said. "It should have been standing room only."

Tegan Hanlon

Tegan Hanlon was a reporter for the Anchorage Daily News between 2013 and 2019. She now reports for Alaska Public Media.

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