Dear Friend,

When I talk to veterans in Hampton Roads about the Hampton VA Medical Center, what I hear most often is, “the care is good, IF you can get in.” This is reflected in the current 42-day average wait time for an initial primary care appointment. That’s down from 108 days in 2010, but it’s still just unacceptable. That’s exactly what I told the new Hampton VA Director personally when we met in my office last month, and again when I visited the facility on Monday.

Director Collins is the fourth director the Hampton VA has had in five years, and the facility has seen even more turnover on the staff level. That’s why it was so important to me to personally visit the facility this week and make sure that he and his staff are committed to long-term improvements. I heard some encouraging words from the director about new initiatives to reduce veteran suicide, as well as efforts to simplify the bureaucracy, increase access and take responsibility for improving the call center. These sound like good plans, but results are what matter, and I’m committed to keep coming back to Hampton and holding leadership accountable for the promises they’ve made to Virginia veterans. You can learn more in the video below.

If we’re going to have an honest conversation about why the Hampton VA is experiencing some of these problems, we also have to talk about the fact that the Hampton Roads veteran population is growing much faster than the national average, and frankly, the federal government has to make new investments in Virginia veterans in order to keep up.

I have been working to cut through the red tape to get a desperately needed veterans facility built on the Southside of Hampton Roads to help free up capacity at the Hampton VA. In 2017, I successfully fought to get congressional approval on 28 overdue VA medical facility leases, including the Southside outpatient clinic, as well as one in Fredericksburg. Then I pressed the White House Office of Management and Budget to sign off on the lease prospectus for the Southside clinic and ensured that the congressional committees signed off on them. Today, the federal government is finally moving forward on this project, collecting bids for construction of this important new veterans facility.

Virginia has a deep history and tradition of military service, and it’s important the federal government honor that service by delivering the care our veterans have earned and keeping up with new challenges facing the veteran community. You have my word that I’m going to keep up the pressure until the VA is fully delivering on its promise to our veterans.

If you want to share your thoughts about an issue that’s important to you, you can send me an email any time using the form on my Senate website. You can also follow me on Facebook and Twitter. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,