During a hearing of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee today, Congresswoman Annie Kuster (NH-02) questioned Secretary of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) Eric Shinseki about how the VA plans to address the growing needs of veterans who are survivors of military sexual assault, including expanding access to mental health services. Earlier this week, Kuster wrote an op-ed in which she highlighted the need for action to address the epidemic of sexual assault in the military.

At today’s hearing, Kuster also highlighted the need for increased access to VA health care for veterans in the North Country.  Currently, veterans living in the North Country must undergo a long and sometimes difficult drive to the nearest clinics in Littleton and Conway in order to receive care. For more specialized care, they currently must travel to the VA Medical Center in White River Junction, Vermont.

Yesterday, Kuster joined Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), and Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH) in urging Secretary Shinseki to consider opening a combined access clinic and telehealth center in Colebrook that would help address the difficulty that North Country veterans currently face in accessing medical care. 

“Given the substantial obstacles veterans in our Great North Woods face in accessing VA health care, we firmly believe that opening a combined access clinic and telehealth center in Colebrook, NH would address an unacceptable gap in VA health care service for our North Country veterans,” the delegation wrote.

The full text of the letter is available here.

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