VA

An internal study of VA facilities recently reduced the rating for Montana’s Ft. Harrison from a two-star facility down to a one-star facility, but the measure is complex.

At the Veterans Day ceremony Wednesday on the Missoula County Courthouse lawn, Montana senior Senator Jon Tester announced an appropriation of nearly $2 billion dollars for veterans health care. The vote was unanimous.

Newly appointed U.S. Veterans Administration Secretary Robert McDonald visited Missoula on Tuesday, accompanied by Montana Senator Jon Tester. At a press conference in the University Center on the UM campus, McDonald said his visit to Montana is primarily concerned with helping veterans in more rural areas...

A small hospital in Mineral County has given voice to frustrations by area veterans over confusion and delays in using the new 'Choice Cards' touted at a town hall meeting in Missoula on January 14.

A closer look by the Veterans Administration at Montana's Fort Harrison and other clinics found that the average wait time for vets at the clinic were over 47 days, more than three times the 14 day goal set by the VA itself. The news has prompted stern responses from both Senator Jon Tester and Congressman Steve Daines...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki has resigned amid widespread troubles in the VA health care system. President Barack Obama says he accepted the resignation with "considerable regret." He and Shinseki met in the Oval Office on Friday morning...

Following the release of a new VA Inspector General interim report showing that Arizona veterans were forced to wait an average of 115 days before receiving their first appointment, Representative Steve Daines once again called on VA Secretary Eric Shinseki to resign.

MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) — In a recent review, the Department of Veterans Affairs Montana Health Care System ranked high in patient satisfaction but came in near the bottom for patient wait times and employee satisfaction. The Missoulian reports that in a March review by the VA inspector general, VA Montana scored 51st in patient satisfaction out of 128 facilities...

Representative Steve Daines is scheduled to meet with veterans in Missoula and Helena on Friday to talk about the ongoing issues within the Department of Veterans Affairs and also address the challenges facing Montana veterans as they navigate the VA system.

Veterans Administration clinics are under scrutiny across the country after the discovery of an attempted cover-up of deaths due to long wait lists in Arizona. Long wait lines for service are something Missoula vets say they have had to deal with too.