Re “3 deaths resurrect questions about VA wait times” (Sept. 27): The former VA San Diego Healthcare System director remarked that veterans he’s spoken with are “happy (with) and proud of” treatment received from the local VA. In my decade of volunteering at the VA Hospital’s welcome desk, I’ve never heard a veteran complain about the quality of services rendered.
But this rosy picture is incomplete. The current presidential administration has triggered treatment delays fomented by attrition, early retirement and a hiring freeze — thus cutting thousands of the nation’s VA jobs. As ProPublica reports, the nation’s VA facilities now have 500 fewer psychologists and psychiatrists than in 2025. Another 2026 organizational report spotlights the overwhelming majority of VA counselling centers that are experiencing severe shortages in the number of staff doctors.
One hopes that the pending midterm elections yield a fresh perspective on the impact that these alarming reductions continue to have on the military families that politicians purport to support.
— Bill Slomanson, Hillcrest