Deputy secretary of veterans affairs meeting with Guam vet groups

The deputy secretary of veterans affairs is on-island to meet with local vet groups, and assess the state of the VA's services locally. He held a press conference at the Veterans Clinic in Agana Heights.

Deputy Secretary Donald Remy toured the clinic and other VA facilities to learn and listen how they can better deliver on their mission of providing veteran's with in his words, "world class health care and timely benefits."  One thing he's concerned about is the disproportionately low number of veterans that are using these services.

"We talked about the numbers today and recognize that there are tens of thousands of veterans here and there are only around 6,000 that are receiving care so we need to make sure that we're properly positioned to provide them that healthcare and to provide benefits," she Remy said.

Medical care and mental health care have consistently topped the list of concerns among local veterans. Governor Lou Leon Guerrero met earlier with the deputy secretary about her proposal to build a veterans wing within her proposed new Guam Memorial Hospital medical complex.

"We'll look at all of those proposals and we'll determine what steps we should take to move forward to put us in a position so that we can take care," Remy added. Asked whether funding is any part of that, he replied, "funding is part of any proposal as you might imagine. and we're looking at what the adequate funding should be."

The Veterans Clinic was built more than a decade ago to address outpatient needs, but for more specialized treatment vets must still travel thousands of miles to Hawaii. Likewise mental health services for post-traumatic stress disorders for example are also lacking. While Deputy Remy offered no specific remedies, he is here to find out what further resources are needed.

"I'm here to listen to our veterans, i'm here to listen to our clinicians, I'm here to listen to the people who are focused on delivering on our mission and to develop solutions together," he stated.