{"id":10511,"date":"2015-05-13T09:02:49","date_gmt":"2015-05-13T13:02:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=10511"},"modified":"2015-05-13T09:02:49","modified_gmt":"2015-05-13T13:02:49","slug":"oped-helping-our-female-veterans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=10511","title":{"rendered":"Op\/Ed: Helping our female veterans"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Ryan Costello<\/strong>, U.S. Rep., Sixth Congressional District<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Ryan_Costello\"<\/a>

U.S. Rep. Ryan Costello (R-6)<\/p><\/div>\n

May provides us with a unique opportunity to honor both our veterans (Military Appreciation Month) and the women who are very special to us (Mother\u2019s Day). Our nation owes a debt of gratitude to our veterans and our mothers, and I wanted to update you on my efforts to help our female veterans. Female veterans represent approximately 10% of the veterans population served by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and this number is only expected to increase.<\/p>\n

According to the Disabled American Veterans\u2019 (DAV) report, \u201cWomen Veterans: The Long Journey Home,\u201d 20% of new recruits are female, along with 14.5% of the active duty component and 18% of the reserve component. Additionally, about 200,000 women have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Just in the last five years, the VA has seen a drastic increase in female veterans served and is finding that most VA facilities are not properly equipped to handle the volume.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Census Bureau\u2019s 2013 American Community Survey reports an estimated 51,942 female veterans reside in Pennsylvania, and over 3,000 are estimated to live in my district.\u00a0 In our region, the Coatesville VA Medical Center (VAMC) has seen a 58% increase in female veterans over the past five years. In fiscal year 2014, the Coatesville VAMC served about 1,049 female veterans. \u00a0The Lebanon VA Medical Center (VAMC) has seen a 22% \u00a0increase in female veterans over the past five years. In fiscal year 2014, the Lebanon VAMC served about 3,578 \u00a0female veterans. Many of the veterans served at these facilities are residents of PA-6.<\/p>\n

But with all of these female veterans returning home, we are seeing that many of our veterans\u2019 facilities are too antiquated to provide the necessary structural space to meet the specific needs of female veterans and are not properly equipped with modern healthcare tools to ensure our veterans are receiving the best care. We have seen reports that indicate several shortcomings in healthcare access and coordination of care at VA health clinics.<\/p>\n

I recently visited the Lebanon VA and saw the quality care they provide to female veterans. Our goal is to expand the quality service provided at facilities like the Lebanon VA to all other VA hospitals.<\/p>\n

In March, my colleague Congresswoman Dina Titus (D-NV) and I led a letter to Richard Griffin, Deputy Inspector General of the Department of Veterans Affairs, requesting an inspection into VA policies designed to meet the needs of female veterans. Specifically, we asked the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) to report on its ability to provide gender specific care and to report on current privacy standards in place for female veterans.<\/p>\n

In addition, the House Veterans Affairs\u2019 Committee recently held a hearing to examine access and quality of care and services for female veterans. At the hearing, we heard many of the same concerns \u2013 female veterans are experiencing different challenges than men, particularly when attempting to access healthcare and other VA services. Through\u00a0the report\u00a0in response to our letter to Deputy IG Griffin, as well as through our Committee\u2019s continued oversight, we will gain greater insight into how we can improve healthcare quality and access for female veterans who utilize VHA services.<\/p>\n

We also heard that female veterans are experiencing a higher unemployment rate than their male counterparts. \u00a0As DAV outlined at the hearing, \u201can estimated 200,000 are expected to leave service in the next five years,\u201d and I believe it is critical that we provide the necessary tools to support women\u2019s veterans employment.\u00a0 The VA must improve their outreach to ensure women are aware of the services provided for their transition into civilian life. One of my priorities on the House Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee is to improve our Transition Assistance Program (TAP) for all veterans returning to civilian life, including providing economic opportunity and skills training.<\/p>\n

As we continue to examine the VA\u2019s current care and services for female veterans,\u00a0I am committed to working on\u00a0addressing\u00a0these gaps in many VA programs to better serve female veterans.<\/p>\n

I am eternally grateful for all who serve our great nation. We must ensure that all veterans \u2013 no matter their gender \u2013 are receiving the best care possible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ryan Costello, U.S. Rep., Sixth Congressional District May provides us with a unique opportunity to honor both our veterans (Military Appreciation Month) and the women who are very special to us (Mother\u2019s Day). Our nation owes a debt of gratitude to our veterans and our mothers, and I wanted to update you on my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10510,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,3],"tags":[3702,3701,3703,3700],"class_list":["post-10511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","category-featured","tag-benefits","tag-female-veterans","tag-the-va","tag-u-s-rep-ryan-costello"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10511"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10511\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}