LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – An open forum was held Wednesday for veterans at the VA hospital in Little Rock.
The town hall heard questions about care and benefits for Arkansas’s veterans.
There were a number of concerns expressed, some specific, and some general, but there was also praise to be heard for quality of service within those walls.
It wasn’t a large crowd. In fact, only a handful of veterans stood to air any grievances. Much of the conversation centered around the implementation of the Choice Program for veterans, which allows them to seek care in the community if they cant be treated within 30 days.
Directors acknowledged, though, most of these issues won’t be corrected immediately.
The topic of suicide prevention also struck a nerve among the crowd and whether the VA was effective in intervening or had enough staff to handle intake of veteran patients.
In general, the theme centered around there being a lot of service, but also still a lot of problems in a broken system.
