Nearly 60 years old.
That’s the average age of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities and medical centers nationwide; 70% are over a half-century old. As the health needs of the veteran community evolve, so must VA infrastructure.
“Facilities of this era were not designed to accommodate the technological and design innovation needs that support a modern health care system,” DAV Assistant National Legislative Director Jon Retzer said to a congressional panel in March.
To keep VA buildings up to date, DAV supports the BUILD for Veterans Act of 2023 (S. 42/H.R. 3225).
This bill would help the VA care for current and future generations of veterans, including women—the fastest-growing veteran demographic—aging veterans, those requiring long-term care, and veterans with spinal cord injuries and conditions. It would also streamline hiring for construction projects and implement a schedule to repurpose unused, vacant buildings, among other provisions.
This legislation is just one of the dozen bills DAV supported at a hearing before the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health.
Other bills considered would offer more options to veterans when seeking VA care. For those with traumatic brain injury, the VA would be required to provide hyperbaric oxygen therapy under a pilot program.
Other bills through which veterans could receive more therapeutic choices include one that would mandate that the VA study the efficacy and safety of medical cannabis for post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic pain, and other illnesses or injuries. Another would require the department to determine whether to make a psychedelic drug available for treatment six months after receiving Food and Drug Administration approval.
Retzer said that DAV members are interested in researching alternative therapies, including medical marijuana.
“We call for the research of medical efficacy of marijuana in a resolution for service-connected disabled veterans, so it’s very important to us,” he told lawmakers. “There’s a need for more options for our veterans.”
When it comes to increasing medical services for veterans, one bill mandates that the VA study bile duct cancer among Vietnam veterans. Bile duct cancer, a rare ailment but more common as patients grow older, is not a current presumptive condition related to Agent Orange exposure.
The VA is facing a severe shortage of mental health providers, with 73 medical facilities out of 139 reporting a severe lack of psychiatrists. To provide excellent, world-class care to veterans, DAV supports a bill to fast-track hiring psychiatrists who completed their residency at a VA facility. The legislation could create a more efficient hiring process for providers who are “already culturally competent to provide clinical services, including the VA’s suicide prevention and lethal-means safety counseling to veterans in need,” said Retzer.
“This productive congressional hearing spanning across a diverse set of imperative legislation means, when DAV shows its support behind causes, lawmakers listen,” said DAV National Legislative Director Joy Ilem. “We look forward to our members calling on their elected officials to support these bills and for their swift passage.”