VA Secretary Collins: Michigan veterans' health care is changing lives
Last month, I sat down with veterans, frontline staff and community leaders in Battle Creek and Ann Arbor, Michigan, on a recent visit to local Department of Veterans Affairs facilities. They outlined how VA is delivering unique and specialized care, tackling challenges and breaking barriers to best serve our veterans and their families in Michigan.
At the Battle Creek VA Medical Center, I witnessed firsthand the facility's commitment to innovative treatments with the opening of a new ketamine clinic, enhancing our approach to PTSD, depression and substance use disorders. I also toured the outpatient mental health programs and met with veterans in our Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Program. Led by Dr. Rogelio Rodriguez, the clinic follows a recovery-centered model. There, I met veterans who courageously shared their paths to healing and how efforts at the Battle Creek VA saved their lives.
Over at the Lt. Col. Charles S. Kettles VA Medical Center in Ann Arbor, teams are providing some of the most advanced specialty care in the country. It's the only facility in the state with an interventional cardiology program and the only one offering Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement — a minimally invasive, life-saving procedure for Veterans with heart disease. This is high-quality, high-tech and veteran-centered care.
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I also spent time learning how our teams are comprehensively tackling two of the most urgent challenges we face: preventing veteran homelessness and suicide.
In Ann Arbor, the Homeless Veterans Program is helping more than 2,400 veterans across southeast Michigan and northwest Ohio. It's a team-based approach that coordinates efforts among the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program housing vouchers, VA case management and Supportive Services for Veteran Families. Through this holistic approach, low-income veterans can maintain housing or quickly find shelter. They've also launched Michigan's first Veterans Response Team, which connects veterans in crisis to housing and services on the spot.
That's the kind of impact we're working to deliver every day.
Meanwhile, Ann Arbor is setting the bar for suicide prevention. More than 1,000 veterans at elevated risk for suicide are being closely monitored through the REACH VET Dashboard. Dozens of outreach events have already taken place this year and staff are trained in VA S.A.V.E. — an evidence-based program that teaches how to identify warning signs and connect Veterans to help. It's tough, emotional work — but it's saving lives.
That kind of success doesn't just happen — it's the result of teamwork, trust and a shared commitment to do what's right for those who've served from Detroit to Muskegon and Ann Arbor to Kalamazoo.
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While this great work continues, there is more work to be done. We're continuing to push for smarter ways to serve veterans.
While the VA's budget and number of employees have grown over the years, its wait times and claims backlog had increased.
Therefore, we're reforming the VA to eliminate the waste and bureaucracy that have gotten in the way of veteran care for years — problems no one has attempted to fix until now. As part of this effort, we're going to maintain the VA's mission-essential jobs like doctors, nurses and claims processors, while phasing out non-mission essential roles like interior designers and DEI officers. The savings we achieve will be redirected to veteran health care and benefits.
One of the biggest upgrades on the horizon is the accelerated rollout of the VA's new electronic health record. The system will go live next year at 13 VA medical facilities, including four in Michigan — Ann Arbor, Battle Creek, Detroit and Saginaw. This will give veterans in Michigan and around the country a single, consistent record that follows them from their military service through the remainder of their lives. It'll streamline coordination with the Department of Defense and improve care across the VA and with community providers.
Under President Donald Trump, the VA is working to increase productivity, eliminate waste and bureaucracy, increase efficiency, and improve health care and benefits to veterans. Our work continues because veterans in Michigan and across the nation deserve nothing less than continuous improvement.
Doug Collins (@SecVetAffairs) is the 12th Secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. If you are veteran who needs VA assistance, please call 1-800-MyVA411 (1-800-698-2411).
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: VA secretary: Here's how we're changing veterans health care | Opinion
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