About 100 veterans attended the event, in addition to military dignitaries, Lt. Gov. Ray Tenorio, and special guests Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Insular Affairs Tony Babauta and governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands, John de Jongh Jr.
The first goal, Shinseki explained, is expanding access to VA benefits and services for veterans of all generations, citing the descendants of Civil War veterans who are still receiving benefits.
“Think about that, the promises of President Abraham Lincoln are being delivered by President Barack Obama, and what that tells is 100 years from now, the promises by President Obama will be carried by some future president who is yet unborn,” he said.
Another priority is to fix the backlog of claims that have accumulated over the years.
“That’s a personal mission of mine. We’re looking to automate the process in the next year and I’m hoping to see some drastic changes to that process,” he said.
The third priority is to help homeless veterans which he hopes to end by 2015. There are currently 76,000 veterans in the country.
Shinseki also touched on the growth of the outpatient clinic from its former location in Naval Hospital to where it is now. He admits that although the clinic is double the size of the former facility, it still does not fully meet the veterans’ needs.
Shinseki indicated there is always the possibility of expanding, but it’s more to arrange the interior of the facility.
He explained that unlike before, veterans are now able to communicate with physicians in Hawaii.
Expounding more on the clinic, Dr. James Hastings, VA Pacific Islands Health Care System director, said the previous clinic only had one room for telemedicine.
“This clinic has five rooms and we have already run four channels going on simultaneously between here and four different specialists at the same time. That’s a more efficient way of doing business than before,” Hastings said.
While on-island, Shinseki met with veterans to listen to their concerns, to include accessibility for treatment in the Philippines, but Shinseki noted that law prohibits them from allowing veterans to receive treatment other than in the U.S., which for Guam, is Hawaii or the mainland.
Shinseki and his party left this morning for Hawaii, where they are attending other veteran-related activities.
