After spending a year under President Biden's PACT Act, the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs is visiting Nevada to see how it is impacting our veterans.
So far over 90% of veterans say they're satisfied with their services within the past 90 days.
Even though most veterans are satisfied with their care, Secretary McDonough says they're still working on improvements to help make their patient's experience even better.
"It's no secret that the country right now has a shortage of mental healthcare providers," says Denis McDonough. "That's a challenge for us here too at the Reno via medical center."
In order to expand and allow faster access to VA healthcare and benefits the PACT Act requires more providers and professionals.
"So, we asked congress that when they pass that law to give us extra authorities, pay authorities, bonus authorities, and this facility is doing a really good job of using those authorities to pay our high performing clinicians better wages, to make them more competitive with the private sector," explains McDonough.
Another improvement they're prioritizing is diminishing side work to allow providers to focus more on caring for their patients, "When our providers are providing care here, they're actually providing care to our veterans and not mired down in paperwork."
During his tour Secretary McDonough spent time with the workforce, coined their Employee of the Year, and even got to speak with a couple patients who said they're very happy with their care.
"To hear that they, like 90% plus of other veterans getting their care here, are very satisfied with their care, but one in particular sought me out to be able to tell us that and that gives me great pride in the workforce," he said.
