Barrett hosts VA secretary for roundtable with veterans in Eaton Rapids

U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett (R-Charlotte) welcomed U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins back to Michigan on Thursday as the pair visited the Lansing VA’s community-based outpatient clinic and the VFW National Home in Eaton Rapids.

Speaking with reporters after a roundtable meeting with veterans discussing efforts to improve the department’s services, Collins touted the department’s move to transition to an electronic health record system, noting Michigan had led the charge by deploying the system at four hospitals earlier this year. 

“One of the things that the secretary has been very adamant about, that I think has been a good thing, is having a standardized framework within the VA,” Barrett said. “Some of that is from the electronic health record system. There was a lot of variation between different VA facilities, different VA regions.”

These variations can pose issues for traveling veterans, Barrett said, noting that his father-in-law had faced difficulty accessing his records at the Battle Creek VA while visiting from out of state.

“There was an old saying before I got in and it’s still around that says ‘you’ve been to one VA, you’ve been to them all. There couldn’t have been anything more farther from the truth,” Collins said. “We’re now going to make that happen because we’re going to have standardized policy.”

Barrett, who served in the U.S. Army for more than 20 years as a helicopter pilot, told reporters that the roundtable had discussed ways to improve the process the department uses to rate claims and enroll veterans in medical benefits, including the system the VA uses for families. 

“If you’re a 100% rated veteran and your family is covered under your disability rating as well for your medical benefits, you know, VA wasn’t originally designed for pediatric care, for example,” Barrett said. “But having families now covered by that means that we have to be expanding into those types of services.”

As part of the visit, Barrett and Collins presented Robert Haywood, a U.S. Marine Corps sergeant who served in Vietnam from 1968 to 1969, with a set of awards, including the Purple Heart, to replace the originals that were stolen from his home. 

“We’re devastated by the tragedy of what happened, but we want you to know that we stand behind you and your service,” Barrett said.