American Legion Post 16 in Huntington to Host Forum

The country’s largest organization of wartime veterans, the American Legion will host a town hall meeting in Huntington tonight.

Members of the American Legion’s System Worth Savings Task Force plan to listen to concerns of veteran’s about the care they receive at the VA Medical Center in Huntington. Periodically the team visits VA Medical Centers is different regions of the country to evaluate the care being given, part of each trip includes a sit down with veterans from the area and specifically ones who have received care at the VA.

Jacob Gadd is Deputy Director for Health Care for the American Legion.

“We’ve found that veterans have a lot of pride in the care that they receive at the VA and while there are some challenges with parking or getting an appointment, different types of challenges with access, but we also encounter quality of care issues and concerns,” Gadd said.

As part of the teams site visit they’ll interview patients, staff and administrators at the hospital. The System Worth Savings Task Force was created in 2003. Gadd said the site visits are important to make sure that the veterans continue receiving the care they should.

“We’ve seen tremendous improvement over the last ten years and that’s really our goal with this report, understanding what improvements have been made, what issues or concerns the 15 hospitals we’re visiting this year are facing and then what is the VA’s five year plan,” Gadd said.

The task force travels to about 15 VA medical centers per year. They’ll compile an annual report based on findings and submit it to Congress, the White House and senior VA leadership. Veterans with concerns are invited to attend the meeting at the American Legion Post 16 Monday night at 7pm.