VA Secretary touts programs for suicide prevention and burn pit exposure at Iowa City stop

IOWA CITY — It’s not the responsibility of veterans seeking medical care to know whether they are sick because of their military service or some other reason in order to get treatment and, in some cases, compensation for their families.

Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough repeated that theme several times during a short news conference Thursday at the VA Iowa City Health Care System.

“I don’t want our veterans to think they have to think, ‘Where did I get sick?’,” McDonough said. “Did I get sick in my (farm) field? Did I get sick in Basra? Did I get sick in Fallujah? Did I get sick in Kandahar? We want them to know their service has earned them access to health care at VA.”

McDonough highlighted the PACT Act, a new law that expands health care benefits for veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange and other toxic substances.

U.S. Army Spc. Joshua Casteel, of Cedar Rapids, died in 2012 at age 32 of lung cancer his family believes was caused by toxins from burn pits at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison, where Casteel served as an interrogator in 2004. Casteel slept just 100 yards from an open-air burn pit used to dispose of plastics, paint, electronics and human body parts, his family told The Gazette.

Under the PACT Act, veterans don’t have to prove what was burned and whether that specific exposure caused their health condition, McDonough said.

“If you have any number of health care conditions and you served in those areas, those two facts are connected,” he said. “That family, if their veteran died of one of the conditions outlined in the law, we can use their claim to establish whether they qualify for pension.”

The Iowa City VA is one of five Rural Health Resource Centers across the country that focus on research, innovation and dissemination of information. Iowa City’s focus includes use of telemedicine and developing new mental health treatment delivery models for rural veterans.

McDonough also was scheduled to visit the VA Clinic in Dubuque on Thursday.

Veteran suicide rates have declined in recent years, but they still are higher than the general population. More than 6,000 veterans took their own lives in 2020, USA Today reported in September.

Sgt. Brandon Ketchum, a 33-year-old Davenport veteran, died by suicide in 2016 after a psychiatrist at the Iowa City VA did not admit him for inpatient care for post-traumatic stress and substance abuse. Although the VA Inspector General determined staff acted within VA parameters, the case sparked new mental health initiatives in the system.

“Our No. 1 clinical priority of the VA is suicide prevention,” McDonough said.

One provision of the new PACT Act says veterans having a mental health crisis can walk into any VA center and get free emergency care.

“Since we rolled that out earlier this year, about 32,000 veterans have availed themselves of that opportunity,” McDonough said. He said veterans in crisis also may call 988 — the national Suicide and Crisis Lifeline — and press 1, which is for veterans.

McDonough said the VA needs to do a better job of showing how it takes care of veterans in order to boost low military recruitment. Several branches of the armed services have struggled in recent years to fill their ranks, citing disinterest among youth and a competitive labor market, among other factors.

“We have to make sure every veteran knows we are here for them and they have earned access to this care,” he said. “So not only are you not taking anybody else’s care, but the act of coming in and getting care helps us understand what your battle buddies have gone through.”

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