Summit Brings Renewed VA Drive for Women Veterans

Summit Brings Renewed VA Drive for Women Veterans
Peake: Reinventing to be "Women-Centric"

WASHINGTON (July 11, 2008) - An aggressive push to ensure women veterans
receive the highest quality of care in VA medical facilities was pledged
by Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. James B. Peake at a recent VA
National Summit on Women Veterans' Issues.

Although VA already has services for women patients equal to those men
receive, Peake told the audience of more than 400 women-veteran
advocates, "We are reinventing ourselves by expanding our women-centric
focus to initiate new programs that meet the needs of women veterans."

Citing the demographic shift that brings increasing numbers of women to
VA for care and the need for changes, Peake announced formation of a
work group to focus on women's needs in prosthetics and rehabilitation,
hiring women's advocates in VA medical centers, developing quality
measurements specifically for women patients, purchasing more
state-of-the-art, specialized women's health care equipment, and
expanding medical education in women's health for VA care providers.

Summit attendees also learned that VA recently established a work group
whose goal is to ensure every female veteran enrolled in VA care has a
women's health primary care provider, especially to meet gender-specific
needs.

The June 20-22 conference in Washington focused on how to ensure VA
meets women-specific health needs and how to inform more women veterans
of their VA benefits. It was the fourth women's summit, which VA holds
every four years.

Summit co-sponsors included the American Legion Auxiliary, AMVETS,
Disabled American Veterans and Veterans of Foreign Wars. Other
assisting veterans groups included the Blinded Veterans Association,
Military Officers Association of America, Paralyzed Veterans of America,
the American Legion, Vietnam Veterans of America and TriWest.

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