VA Health-Care System Is 'A Model,' Secretary Says

When Hurricane Katrina forced the relocation from New Orleans to Houston of hundreds of Veterans Affairs hospital patients, electronic medical records enabled doctors and nurses to treat the sick and injured without skipping a beat.

"We were able in every case, after we got them resettled into another hospital, to dial up their medical record," Jim Nicholson, the secretary of Veterans Affairs, said yesterday.

In a "state of the VA" speech at the National Press Club, Nicholson cited electronic health records as one reason the VA health-care system is "a model for our nation" and said his department, with 234,000 employees, is "truly one of America's good-news stories."

The VA's 154 hospitals and more than 900 clinics will treat more than 5.3 million veterans this year, he said. Its health-care budget has risen 69 percent in the past five years. Under President Bush's proposed 2007 budget, the department would get one of the biggest increases in discretionary spending for any federal agency: a boost of $2.6 billion, to $35.7 billion.

Not all the news is good.

One of the department's missions is to help ease veterans' transition to civilian life. Yet the unemployment rate of veterans ages 20 to 24 is 16 percent, more than three times the national rate.

"To me, they're perfect for prospective employers," Nicholson said. "They made a commitment. . . .They've been honorably discharged and they deserve a job."

About 1 in 5 veterans has diabetes, compared with about 1 in 14 Americans in general. Nicholson said the VA now talks to patients about their diet and the disease even if they come in for other ailments.

More veterans, especially those returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, are having post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosed, prompting the department to ensure that all its 154 major medical centers have an expert in treating PTSD.

Then there are the old complaints that the VA is too slow to process benefits claims. "We're trying to compress the time it takes to get a decision so a veteran doesn't have to wait so long," the secretary said. "There are things that we can and we need to do better."

-- Christopher Lee