{"id":33806,"date":"2018-08-08T18:49:49","date_gmt":"2018-08-08T18:49:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/08\/08\/new-va-secretary-promises-veterans-better-customer-service-and-more-medical-options\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:05:47","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:05:47","slug":"new-va-secretary-promises-veterans-better-customer-service-and-more-medical-options","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/veterans\/2018\/08\/08\/new-va-secretary-promises-veterans-better-customer-service-and-more-medical-options\/","title":{"rendered":"New VA secretary promises veterans better customer service and more medical options"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 In his first public speech since taking over the Department of Veterans Affairs, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2018\/07\/10\/for-the-first-time-a-senator-is-opposing-the-va-secretary-nominee\/\" target=\"_blank\">VA Secretary Robert Wilkie<\/a> on Wednesday reiterated his promises to push that bureaucracy towards more customer-friendly practices and more flexible access for beneficiaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;VA exists to make life easier for veterans,\u201d he told a crowd of veterans at the AMVETS annual convention in Orlando, Florida. \u201cSo my prime directive is customer service. When a veteran comes in to VA, it is not up to him to get VA to say \u2018yes.\u2019 It is up to VA to give the veteran tools.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The comments echoed ones Wilkie made less than two months ago <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2018\/06\/27\/va-secretary-nominee-promises-more-medical-choices-for-vets-but-not-privatization\/\" target=_blank>during his confirmation hearing<\/a> on Capitol Hill, where he pledged to bring a more user-friendly experience to veterans <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2018\/05\/23\/massive-veterans-policy-bill-heads-to-trumps-desk-but-results-will-take-time\/\" target=_blank>navigating the massive federal bureaucracy<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Unlike that testimony, Wilkie did not explicitly state he opposes privatization of department health programs during his AMVETS speech, although he appeared to back up that previous vow.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/veterans\/2018\/07\/23\/here-are-the-biggest-issues-facing-the-new-veterans-affairs-secretary\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/40305932240_b1b68b3ab3_o.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Here are the biggest issues facing the new Veterans Affairs secretary<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Robert Wilkie steps into a department which has seen multiple accomplishments and multiple headaches in recent months.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The topic has been a point of contention among lawmakers, veterans groups and administration officials in recent years, and was amplified with the firing of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2018\/03\/28\/shulkin-out-trump-fires-va-secretary-after-weeks-of-controversy\/\" target=_blank>former department Secretary David Shulkin<\/a> in March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wilkie noted one of his first tasks as President Donald Trump\u2019s newest Cabinet secretary will be overseeing sweeping health care reforms for the department signed into law in June. He said that work will include creating more \u201cchoices\u201d for veterans seeking medical care, but also spoke of the importance of preserving the current VA health care system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOne absolutely essential option (for veterans) is the availability of care from professionals who specialize in treating America\u2019s veterans,\u201d he said. \u201cProfessionals who speak the language, who know what you have been through, who know what your special needs are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThat is not an option that the private sector can provide.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before the speech, Wilkie signed a memorandum with AMVETS leaders to continue work on suicide prevention efforts. The new secretary has said he will keep that issue as his top clinical priority, the same as Shulkin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The event included no mention of the last four months of leadership drama at the department, which included the implosion of former White House physician <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2018\/06\/04\/defense-officials-open-investigation-into-drinking-drug-allegations-against-white-house-doctor\/\" target=\"_blank\">Adm. Ronny Jackson\u2019s nomination<\/a> to take over the nearly $200 billion veterans administration. Wilkie\u2019s confirmation vote marked the first time in Senate history that any lawmaker had opposed a VA secretary nominee, although the nine votes against him were viewed largely as protests against Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wilkie did thank AMVETS officials for their support of his nomination and for their collaboration during his two months as acting secretary, and promised similar partnership in coming months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMajor changes already underway by in large are not things forced upon veterans or VA,\u201d he said. \u201cThey are changes we have worked out together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">[RELEASE] AMVETS, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DeptVetAffairs?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@DeptVetAffairs<\/a> Formally Partner to Improve <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/Veteran?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Veteran<\/a> Access to Mental Health Care <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/7e8GtSzsVT\">https:\/\/t.co\/7e8GtSzsVT<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/AMVETS74th?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#AMVETS74th<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/HealAmericanVeterans?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#HealAmericanVeterans<\/a><\/p>&mdash; AMVETS (@AMVETSHQ) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/AMVETSHQ\/status\/1027254125904519173?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 8, 2018<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Robert Wilkie&#8217;s public comments Tuesday were the first since he was sworn into office late last month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":65798,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":19,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,23,89,12,26,62,19],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3222],"class_list":["post-33806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress","category-veterans"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"JGGLXT7BURGF5GEF2HVU3S4JYA","arc_canonical_url":"\/veterans\/2018\/08\/08\/new-va-secretary-promises-veterans-better-customer-service-and-more-medical-options\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>New VA secretary promises veterans better customer service and more medical options - Navy Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Robert Wilkie&#039;s public comments Tuesday were the first since he was sworn into office late last month.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New VA secretary promises veterans better customer service and more medical options\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Robert Wilkie&#039;s public comments Tuesday were the first since he was sworn into office late last month.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" 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