WASHINGTON – Arizona senior Senator Kyrsten Sinema met with the leaders of every major VA facility in Arizona and the director of all VA facilities in the Southwest region of the United States. They discussed how the VA’s new standards under the VA Mission Act, which Sinema championed, are changing their operations and what additional resources are needed to ensure Arizona veterans get the care they’ve earned.
“I will continue to hold the VA accountable to the high standards of care Arizona veterans have earned. The directors of Arizona’s VA facilities shared the challenges they face and we will continue working together to deliver the best possible care to Arizona veterans,” said Sinema, a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee.
Sinema met with Mr. Michael Fisher, the Network Director of the Veterans Integrated Service Network 22, which oversees all VA facilities in the Southwest region of the United States. She also met with Ms. Barbara Oemcke, the medical center director at the Northern Arizona VA Health Care System; Mr. William Caron, Director and CEO of the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System; and Ms. RimaAnn Nelson, the Medical Center Director of the Phoenix VA Health Care System.
While in the House, Sinema cosponsored the VA MISSION Act, which is now law. The VA MISSION Act helps veterans receive care when they don’t live near a VA facility or when the VA can’t provide them with timely or specialty medical care.
Sinema has also led the charge to reform the VA by being an original cosponsor of the VA Accountability Act and by supporting the VA Choice Act, both of which were signed into law. Additionally, Sinema worked with the family of SGT Daniel Somers, an Arizona veteran who lost his life to suicide, to introduce and successfully get signed into law the SGT Daniel Somers Classified Veterans Access to Care Act which ensures veterans who serve in a classified capacity can get private counseling from the VA.