VA Secretary notes progress on veterans' health, suicide prevention, homelessness
Improving the health of the nation’s veterans, preventing their suicides and reducing their homelessness are among the progress areas in the Veterans Administration cited by VA Secretary Denis McDonough during a Headliners Breakfast event at the National Press Club Tuesday.
On the health issue, McDonough described benefits being received by veterans who served at Karshi-Khanabad Air Base in Uzbekistan as part of the U.S. war in Afghanistan. Commonly known as “K2,” Karshi-Khanabad is a former Soviet base that, according to McDonough, veterans called a “toxic soup” of chemical exposure.
He cited a military surgeon, Col. Gordon Peters, who reported “a chemical odor so intense that it seemed as if someone could light a match and the entire area would ignite.”
A VA website lists leaking jet fuel, depleted uranium, volatile organic compounds, particulate matter and asbestos among hazards at Karshi-Khanabad. The VA says these substances put veterans at a higher risk of malignant melanoma and other illnesses. McDonough said his department is committed to establishing a presumptive service connection for any rare illness linked to K2.
"They [veterans] have waited 23 years to have their uniquely dangerous service recognized,” McDonough said. The U.S. began operations at K2 on Oct. 5, 2001, just a few weeks after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Veterans with similar health challenges are receiving help under the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act, McDonough said. The 2022 PACT Act expands VA health care and benefits for veterans exposed to burn pits and other toxins. McDonough noted that 5.8 million veterans have been screened for toxic exposure under the PACT Act.
On another health-related issue, McDonough said the VA needs more gender-specific health care providers, due in part to women vets having children at older ages.
McDonough also said the VA is reaching out aggressively to veterans at risk for suicide. The VA’s 2023 annual report on suicide prevention, which aggregated data from 2021, showed 17.5 veteran suicides per day.Last year’s report established correlation between receiving VA benefits and reducing suicide,” McDonough said. He added that preventing veteran suicide is the VA’s top priority.
McDonough cited progress against veteran homelessness. He said the VA permanently housed nearly 48,000 veterans last year. “The phrase ‘homeless veteran’ should not exist in the English language,” McDonough said.
He added that if a veteran faces a housing crisis, the VA can get that vet into protective housing through a joint program under the VA and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program provides so-called “VASH vouchers” for rental assistance.
“We’re deadly serious about this homelessness issue,” McDonough said.
He also discussed VA efforts in storm-ravaged western North Carolina. McDonough said his department identified more than 2,600 veterans at risk because they needed chemotherapy, oxygen or other support. VA teams accounted for all the at-risk vets in their care, McDonough said.
In some cases, that took effort. McDonough said VA employee Corey Anderson drove to check on one rural veteran until he found the road washed away. “So what did Corey do?” McDonough said. “He parked his car in the middle of the road and hiked the rest of the way.”
The VA secretary praised journalists, especially veteran journalists, for helping vets. “You make us better by holding us accountable,” McDonough said.