San Diego veterans and their families are invited to share their benefits questions and concerns with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Thursday at a town hall meeting.
The forum is one of many the VA is holding around the country to improve services and rebuild community trust. The effort follows a national VA audit last year that found a backlog of benefits claims and long wait times for health care.
"It’s a meeting intended to provide local veterans, their families and beneficiaries a wide open forum," said Patrick Prieb, director of the San Diego VA Regional Office and host of the meeting.
Veterans will be updated on pending claims and progress made in reducing the benefits backlog. Prieb said he'll also spend time listening.
"To hear back if there’s any perhaps stumbling blocks that the community has experienced where we can still continue to improve to deliver our services," Prieb said.
The San Diego VA serves more than 500,000 veterans, service members and their families from Orange, Imperial, Riverside and San Diego Counties.
The meeting is scheduled for 5 p.m. Thursday at the San Diego VA Regional Office in Mission Valley at 8810 Rio San Diego Drive.
