A year ago, I wrote a piece for Newsweek detailing how the stifling bureaucratic culture at the Veterans Administration was beginning to change under new VA Secretary Eric Shinseki. The problems haven't gone away entirely. There are still often insufferably long waits for veterans who need immediate care, for example, and that could in fact get worse in the coming years as more men and women from the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan make the tough transition from active duty to veteran.
But overall things evidently continue to improve, if slowly, at the VA, especially with regard to compensation for veterans of past wars, increases in mental health staff, new online services, and the elimination of some of the red tape involved in filing claims.
Craig Newmark notes on his blog:
Here's a summary of the changes, and how to get into the new system.
Here's the contact for the VA San Diego Medical Center.
