WASHINGTON — Health care for female military veterans lags behind the care offered to male vets at many VA facilities, an internal agency report says, even as women are serving on frontlines at historic levels.
There are clear needs for more physicians trained in women’s care and more equipment to meet women’s health needs, said a review released Friday by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
It did add that strides are being made, such as creating onsite mammography services and establishing women’s clinics at most VA medical centers. The department also is attempting to recruit more clinicians with training in women’s care.
For now, female veterans aren’t getting the same quality of outpatient care as men in about one-third of the VA’s 139 facilities that offer it, the report said. That appeared to validate the complaints of advocates and some members of Congress who have said more emphasis needs to be placed on women’s health.
Women make up about 5 percent of the VA’s population, but that is expected to nearly double in the next two years.
“There’s a definite feeling of isolation,” said Paul Rieckhoff, founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. “There’s a definite feeling that they’re a minority and that big Army and big VA are still trying to understand their issues.”
Any discrepancies in care are unacceptable and the agency is aggressively addressing the issue, said Dr. William E. Duncan, associate deputy undersecretary at the VA.
Overall, women make up about 14 percent of the U.S. armed forces. Of the 1.7 million personnel who have deployed in support of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, more than 190,000 — or about 11 percent — are women.
Other findings
• Older and younger veterans appear to be receiving the same quality of care.
• About 86 percent of homeless veterans seen by VA received primary care, mental-health care and/or substance-abuse services.
• About 98 percent of appointments were completed within 30 days in primary- care clinics, and about 97 percent were completed during that period at specialty clinics.
• Overall quality of care appears to be good when reviewed using commonly accepted health care benchmarks.
• Minority veterans surveyed were generally less satisfied with inpatient and outpatient care than white veterans, but it wasn’t clear whether the quality of care offered was different.
