A Journey We Must Make Together

	VA and DOD jointly held a national conference to discuss the needs and challenges of returning OEF/OIF veterans, their families, and caregivers. The Evolving Paradigms II Conference was attended by 3,000 VA and DOD staff.

Stephen C Hunt, MD, MPH
Director, VA Puget Sound Post-Deployment Health Clinic Programs
National Director, Post-Deployment Integrated Care Initiative

We do not come home from war. We come home with war. The journey home from war — as long, arduous and complex as it can be — is a journey we must make together.

If you were one of the 3,000 people who attended the recent OEF/OIF conference then you saw very clearly that this is what it is all about.

Three thousand people bringing their dedication, fire and creativity together to continue transforming the VA by transforming the care we are providing to our Veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Coming Together

Every now and then the universe brings into our lives challenges that are beyond the challenges of every day, challenges that call upon our energies and capabilities in measures beyond the measures of every day, challenges that call upon our creativity and willingness to reach beyond our usual reach.

This is such a time in our nation, such a time in our VA. What has been put before us is the challenge to come together as a VA, to come together as a network of agencies led the by the VA and the DoD, to come together as communities and as a nation, to tend to the wounds of our brothers and our sisters, our sons and our daughters, our spouses and our nephews and nieces and friends and neighbors, our fellow Americans who have been off to war in the service of our nation.

That is the challenge that has been put before us and in that challenge we have been given the opportunity to create and deliver the most comprehensive and effective system of post-combat care and support that has ever been offered to individuals returning home from war ... the best system of post-combat care and support ever.

Although we have a remarkable array of services available for our combat Veterans, that does not mean we are providing them with the best care, any more than saying that a hanger full of crates and wings and fuselage parts means we have an airplane. Resources alone cannot help our Veterans any more than a hanger full of crates and aircraft parts can take us flying. We have to put it all together in order to fly.

There is not a person among us that is not fully aware of the fact that even though we are doing a better job than ever taking care of returning combat veterans, we have an enormous amount of work yet to do, improvements that must be made within our systems and between our systems to take our post-combat care to a higher level still, to meet even higher standards ... improvements in access, improvements in quality, improvements in consistency of care, improvements in approaches to care, improvements in the sequencing of services, improvements in the integration of the efforts within and between systems.

Working Together

In addition to coming away with a greater sense of connection with our combat Veterans and their families, and a greater sense of connection with one another, it was our hope that those attending this VA conference would leave with a greater commitment to working together, a greater commitment to our shared mission.

No one knows better than a combat Veteran how essential teamwork is when one is faced with a difficult mission. They know that it is only with teamwork, with each individual doing their job and doing it well, with the contributions of each team member fitting smoothly into the overall effort, your piece fitting effectively in with the pieces of those around you, only with that can a mission succeed. Such teamwork, commitment, and common purpose is not simply desirable ... it is essential.

As these Veterans put the pieces of their lives back together, as they put their families and homes back together, as they put their vision of their own futures back together, let us show them that they are returning home to a place where they are surrounded by that same sense of teamwork, common purpose, shared mission and a commitment to one another's well being. That they are coming home to an environment of connection and integration.

Becoming Veteran Centric

What could be more Veteran centric than a system of post-combat care that starts with: “I'm so glad you're here. You are in the right place. I want to start by expressing my appreciation for your service and I want to acknowledge the sacrifice involved in that service. I know that going off to war can lead to changes in one's life. We are going to talk for a while here about how your combat deployment affected your life and the life of your family, about how you are doing and what you are needing now, about what we have here at the VA to help you out and how we can get you and your family just what you need to insure that you all do well in the months and years ahead.”?  

That is post combat care ... that is Veteran centric.