Every year after the President’s State of the Union speech, the VA Secretary will give the State of VA speech. The State of VA proclaims the department’s successes from the previous year and outlines their priorities in the coming year.
This year, Secretary Robert Wilkie touted:
- A 16 percentage point increase in female Veteran enrollments.
- Leading the White House’s PREVENTS Task Force.
- Cutting 8,000 VA employees in 2019 who did not meet the secretary’s performance standards.
The Secretary’s priorities for the coming year include:
- MISSION ACT: Expanding caregiver benefits to those who served before 1975.
- Suicide Prevention: Help charities, nonprofits, local and nongovernmental organizations find the 60% of the “20 Veterans a day” who have no contact with VA.
- Roll out the Electronic Health Record: Providing a paperless healthcare transition from DoD to VA.
- Continue to develop and lead medical research and development.
- Create the first hospital that will fully employ the power of 5G technology.
CLICK HERE FOR A MORE DETAILED LIST FROM THE ADDRESS
ADDITIONAL LINKS:
- VA Accepting applications for grants to support programs that support disabled Veterans
- National Salute to Patients Week
#BtBattle Veteran of the Week: Army Veteran Greg Gadson
Michelle Cannon is a podcast intern with VA’s Digital Media Engagement Team. She is currently a graduate at Liberty University studying Professional Writing.
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