On Veterans Day, we honor the contributions and sacrifices of the brave men and women who have served this great nation. Countless ceremonies take place around the country to honor these selfless heroes who have protected our liberty with their service. At Veterans Affairs, Pacific Island Health Care System (VAPIHCS), Veterans Day is every day.
Improving the veterans’ experience is a priority. We want veterans to choose VA to receive their care. VA is the largest and the only health-care system that publicly publishes wait times for appointments (www.accesstocare.va.gov). Efforts continue to ensure that veterans are seen in a timely manner.
We have extended hours, added weekend appointments and are hiring additional staff to increase access to care and improve timeliness of services. We are also modernizing services by using technologies such as telehealth to improve access to care. This has been a vital addition to get the right care, in the right place, at the right time to veterans in remote areas.
Suicide prevention is the VA’s No. 1 clinical priority. We know that if veterans are connected with the right care it makes a difference and saves lives. Every day, 20 veterans take their lives. Of those 20, only six received VA health care in the past year. We need to find ways to reach out to veterans who are not connected to the VA, and get them connected to care and services they need.
We also now have the ability to serve other-than-honorable administrative discharges for urgent mental health needs. Please join us in this effort and enter the Veterans Crisis Line toll-free number in your phone now, 1-800-273-8255, and help us to #BeThere for our veterans.
Also, VAPIHCS staffs and operates an inpatient psychiatric unit and partial hospitalization program as well as a VA Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Residential Recovery Program (PRRP) ward, within Tripler Army Medical Center (TAMC).
Other programs and community connections for our veterans:
>> Women veterans are the fastest-growing group within the veteran population. Our Women Veterans Program providers are specially trained to address women health issues.
>> We oversee more than 450 trainees who are Hawaii’s future health care workforce. VAPIHCS has an affiliation with the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine to provide education and research to medical students. Investing in them is an investment for Hawaii and our veterans.
>> VAPIHCS is now supporting the Million Veteran Project (MVP), a national research project. It is the world’s largest genomic database linked to a health-care system through which VA will learn more about how genes affect health to improve health care for veterans.
>> Veteran homelessness has gone down 8 percent statewide since 2016. I am proud of our partnership with community and government officials as part of a homeless taskforce to provide a coordinated effort toward ending homelessness. I am excited to tell you that on Dec. 8, we will join Cloud Break Communities, U.S. Vets and the community in a grand opening of 50 new permanent housing units for our homeless veterans at Barbers Point.
>> Additionally, VA is expanding to the Ewa Plain of Oahu: the Advanced Leeward Outpatient Healthcare Access (ALOHA) VA Multi-Specialty Community Based Outpatient Clinic is projected to open in 2020.
More than 1,000 employees — many who are veterans themselves — have a common goal and mission to provide full-spectrum, comprehensive patient- and family-centered care to our veterans. We also partner with the Department of Defense, civic leaders and community members in a variety of ways to ensure that veterans receive the care and services they need and deserve.
I want to thank our veterans for their service. Liberty comes at a price. The men and women who served this country paid the price for the freedom and liberty that we all enjoy. It is my privilege to serve as the director of the VA Pacific Islands Health Care System, and I want to thank the staff for their hard work to provide our veterans quality, safe and compassionate health care. It’s an honor and a duty to do so and the least we can do to demonstrate our gratitude for a debt we can never otherwise repay.
Jennifer S. Gutowski is director of Veterans Affairs, Pacific Island Health Care System.
