They may be veterans, but they’re definitely still fighting a war.
The Joint Ambulatory Care Center on U.S. 98 was ground zero for the Gulf Coast VA town hall event Monday night, housing more than 70 Gulf Coast area vets who brought their notes, questions and concerns with the VA.
While many veterans voiced a genuine thanks and appreciation for the work the Pensacola VA clinic provides to the community, others had quite a difference in opinion.
Paul Goodwin, a 79-year-old Navy vet, said the problem for him wasn’t in the services or treatment the VA provides, rather it was in its growing population.
“I have no complaints for the VA here or at Tyndall Air Force Base, where I’ve been seen,” said Goodwin. “I just think the VA is growing too fast.”
With the recent scandals over delayed care, many veterans at the town hall felt like the VA could use an extra hand in doctors, facilities and claims services members to compensate for the growing numbers of veterans in Pensacola.
Mark Morgan, acting director of the Gulf Coast Veterans Health Care System, said the VA is working on recruiting for various Gulf Coast VA facilities.
“We truly are taking your concerns to heart,” Morgan said to attending vets.
“It’s a humble thing to recognize all of you for your service to our country. And for those of us that serve in the Veterans Health Administration, part of our recognition of your service is the privilege to provide health care to you,” he said.
In the opening statements of the town hall, Morgan said that he knew he’d receive some feedback that might be a little difficult to hear, but he needed to hear it anyway.
One of those things focused around the topic of claims and the amount of time it takes veterans to correspond with offices in regards to general claims and ratings appeals.
“We have one of the worst claims programs,” said Gary Cooper, a Navy Vietnam vet out of Mobile, Ala., who often receives treatment from Pensacola VA facilities. “We have the poorest facilities, we have the poorest service,” he said.
Looking back over his Navy career, Cooper compared his time in Vietnam to his dealings with the VA.
“I was never told in my military career and I fought in Vietnam that the hardest thing would be to get military benefits.”
Mary Kay Gominger, chief of community and public affairs of the Gulf Coast Veterans Health Care System, said the town hall served as a way to listen to veterans and have their concerns heard by VA leadership.
“We have a lot of veterans with a lot of concerns,” Gominger said. “And we’ll keep having these types of town halls. When participation gets less, we’ll know we’re helping people.
Gominger says the way to tackle problems that veterans are having with the VA is one veteran at a time, but Joseph Kanarkiewicz, an Army veteran in the 82nd Airborne Division during the Vietnam War whose problem doesn’t lie with the VA has another way.
“If there are problems, and you have politicians that are looking at the problems, maybe you should have them, their families and their staff use the VA and use the VA’s benefits.”
