Kaine, Vindman Meet with Veterans, Discuss Long Wait Times at Fredericksburg VA Health Care Center

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last week, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), and U.S. Representative Eugene Vindman (D-VA-07) hosted a roundtable in Fredericksburg with veterans to discuss their experiences with the local VA Health Care Center. This comes after consistent reports of long wait times and staffing shortfalls at the facility. Kaine has pressed leadership at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to fill vacant roles and ensure that veterans receive the quality care they’ve earned, particularly after the removal of over 1,700 positions at VA clinics in Virginia earlier this year. "I was glad to hear directly from veterans that they are pleased with the quality of their care, but I will keep pushing the VA to do more to address wait times," said Kaine. "Virginia is home to one of the largest veteran populations in the nation, and I will always advocate for our servicemembers, veterans, and their families to have access to the high-quality, timely care they deserve.” Kaine has long fought to address VA workforce challenges, including after the Trump-Vance Administration’s abrupt elimination of up to 35,000 health care roles at VA clinics nationwide last year. He has introduced the bipartisan Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Physicist Pay Cap Relief Act , legislation that would help address staffing shortages of physicists critical to delivering cancer care and treatment at the VA by removing an arbitrary cap on their pay. Kaine also secured $4.5 million in federal grant funding to support suicide prevention efforts for veterans last year. ###