My St. Louis VA

A recent three-part series on local VA healthcare included a lot of criticism of the Department of Veteran Affair’s healthcare services.

On Tuesday’s St. Louis on the Air, host Don Marsh addressed the criticisms raised by local veterans with representatives from the VA St. Louis Health Care System.

 “We’re not perfect…we have come a long way but we’ve got a long way to go,” Keith Repko, medical center director at the VA St. Louis Health Care System, said.

On Friday’s St. Louis on the Air, Mission Continues fellow and former U.S. Army combat correspondent Monica Ramirez and production engineer Aaron Doerr took us through the final part of a three part series about veterans getting health care and related services through the St. Louis VA Health Care System.

Through sound-rich narration and storytelling, we heard the perspectives of eight local veterans and their families as they weighed in on what is troubling, isolating, encouraging, and healing about the VA.

The number of veterans seeking care from the VA has shot up in the last few years but across the country, the number of medical staff available to provide healthcare services has not.

The number of veterans seeking care from the VA has shot up in the last few years but across the country, the number of medical staff available to provide healthcare services has not.

A 2014 law, the Veterans Choice and Accountability Act, funneled $2.5 billion to VA medical centers for assistance in hiring more doctors, nurses and other medical staff. However, an investigation by NPR and local member stations conducted earlier this year found that wait times have not improved.