STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (WTAJ) — The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted daily life for every Central Pennsylvanian including our veterans.
On Tuesday, WTAJ reporter Evan Hinkley spoke with the U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Robert Wilkie, on how VA’s are navigating through the pandemic.
They discussed the current impact of COVID-19 on veterans, what’s being done to continue to help them with needed services, and Secretary Wilkie’s outlook on the future of veterans programs in Central Pennsylvania.
WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW BELOW
Hinkley: “I want to begin with what’s on everyone’s mind right now and that’s COVID-19. Given that, can you talk about some of the challenges facing the VA navigating through COVID-19?”
Robert Wilkie,U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs: “The good thing about VA is that we serve nine and a half million people who are used to being in the toughest spots on the planet and we started early getting the information out to them and they have responded magnificently.”
Wilkie says of the nine and a half million vets in the VA, 16,000 have been infected by COVID-19. However, he says well over 12,000 of them have fully recovered.
“What we did have to do is make very tough decisions at the beginning of this and I think is a road map for the rest of the country, we stopped elective surgeries, we stopped visitors, we closed off–sadly–all of our nursing homes to families and friends, and in doing so I think went a long way in protecting our most vulnerable veterans. It really comes down to making difficult decisions early in a crisis.”
Hinkley: “Is there anything that makes navigating veterans affairs unique to a pandemic like this?”
“It’s the unique populations for veterans with wellness appointments or who had physicals we stopped those. We’ve kept in contact with them and started slowly to bring them back.”
Secretary Wilkie says one of the biggest things they’ve been able to do, especially in Central PA, is expanding tele-health. In a normal month before the pandemic, they would have over 40,000 mental health tele-appointments. But in April of 2020 those appointments went up to 900,000.
“In rural Pennsylvania, we don’t want them to endanger themselves or their friends…but we do want them to be in contact with us.”
Hinkley: “On the mental health front have you seen a difference in approach or increase in needs… because of the pandemic?”
“We are continuing to make sure veterans know that we’re serious about same day mental health. We’ve sent out tens of millions of communications to make sure we do our best to capture that sentiment with veterans. In western PA we’re re-vamping our operations, we never closed but we’re getting back to normal… we will determine if that face-to-face interactions can be done in a safe way.”
Sec. Wilkie added: “We’re ramping up in PA which is a good thing… but we’re always preparing for if this things boomerangs back on us.”
He says there are some big plans for the future of veterans service in our area.
“In the next few years in a VA partnership with organizations like Walmart where a veteran can go into a Walmart, go behind the pharmacy counter, sit in what looks like a living room and contact the veterans hospital in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, or wherever the particular expertise that veteran needs is available.”
This year, Sec. Wilkie presented the largest budget in the history of his department: $40 billion. He expects next year’s budget to be even higher and that Central Pennsylvania should see more of that money.
“We’re going where the veterans are… which has changed—one place it hasn’t changed is PA, especially between the two great cities… so I expect when all of the studies are done, PA will get richer in terms of Veterans services, while some other parts of the country contract, but I don’t see that happening in PA.”
The secretary says he’s looking to return VA’s back to normal as soon as possible without seeing a boomerang effect of COVID-19.
This Thursday, the Deputy Secretary of U.S. Veterans Affiars, Pamela Powers, will be at the VA Medical Center in Altoona. She will discuss the process of beginning to return to normal operations, and also discuss how to better serve female veterans.
“I want people to call when they need help…not just veterans but families too. We’ll get back to normal as soon as possible.”