U.S. Rep. Loebsack calls for ‘constant vigilance’ of VA system, services

IOWA CITY - There's no shortage of challenges facing military veterans as they transition to civilian life - jobs, education, homelessness, to name a few.

Receiving their service-related benefits, especially health care, shouldn't be among them, U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack said Monday at an Iowa City forum he hosted for veterans and their families.

He referred to a 'corrosive culture” cited in a review of the VA presented to President Obama June 27 that led to poor management, retaliation against whistle-blowers, outdated technology and shortages of professional staff and space.

'A year ago, no one would have predicted how difficult it would be with the VA,” Loebsack told about 40 people - most of them veterans.

'That's not to take away from the great work we've seen in the VA Hospital in Iowa City,” he quickly added.

Brandon Hudson agreed there are 'a lot of people at the Iowa City VA who care,” but not everyone.

Hudson, who was Army Airborne, said he suffers from Post-traumatic stress disorder, has attempted suicide and has had legal trouble. He also faces what seems to be unending paperwork in his dealings with the VA.

The system seems stacked against veterans, his fiancé, Tina Robinson, said. It seems there always is one more step, one more piece of paperwork, needed before they can get service.

'People with PTSD get frustrated with the legwork and give up,” she said. She's seen it firsthand with her father, who was a Marine, and with Hudson. 'They don't have patience to deal with all of the crap.”

'You can't blame them, can you?” Loebsack said, adding that it shouldn't take intervention by him or his office 'for those folks to get what's coming to them.”

Talking about the VA's problems wasn't enough for some at the forum.

'I'm waiting to see some people fired,” retired professor Palmer Holden told Loebsack. Putting VA officials on administrative leave 'is a vacation.”

Loebsack agreed that 'accountability is clearly lacking. I think we all agree on that.”

'Keep pushing it,” Holden said.

Others acknowledged the problems, but praised the VA for the care they have received.

Robert Richard of Tiffin, a retired hospital administrator and 100 percent disabled Vietnam veteran, said he 'felt terrible about what these men and women have had to go through. No doubt it is true.”

The VA, Richard said, 'needs to be fixed from top on down to the bottom.”

Richard, who said he has dealt with Agent Orange exposure, PTSD, five cancers and two precancerous issues, called himself an example of what the VA can do.

'All my care has been excellent,” he said. 'Is everyone at 100 percent every day? No. None of us are.”

While problems veterans and their families are encountering with the Department of Veterans Affairs are receiving attention, 'bottom line, we're not where we need to be when it comes to making sure our veterans have what they need and deserve for the sacrifice they made,” Loebsack said. 'We need constant vigilance.”

Loebsack also will hold forums in Fort Madison, Burlington, Newton, Knoxville, Davenport, Clinton and Washington.