Today, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA-03) and Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough visited Clark County to tour the Vancouver VA Medical Center, VA FARMS program, and meet with VA Northwest Health Network (VISN 20) leadership. During the visit, Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez spoke with Secretary McDonough about issues facing Southwest Washington veterans – including transportation funding in Skamania County and her calls to reopen a Lewis County clinic.

The Congresswoman hand-delivered a petition to the Secretary with more than 16,650 signatures from veterans, caregivers, and Lewis County community members, along with her letter, urging the VA to meet its fundamental promise to take care of veterans by reopening a clinic in Lewis County. In February, she delivered the same signatures and letters to the VA, but never received a response.

“It’s our responsibility to ensure our nation’s heroes are well-supported after returning home and can access the benefits they’ve earned and deserve. I enjoyed hearing from dedicated healthcare professionals and discussing ways to make sure every Southwest Washington veteran – including those in rural communities – can efficiently access the healthcare and vocational training they need to lead full, healthy lives,” said Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez. “Unfortunately, for many veterans across Southwest Washington, it’s become increasingly difficult to access care. Time and again, I’ve called on the VA to reopen a much-needed clinic in Lewis County and expressed my willingness to engage on this matter, and I was disappointed to not receive a response after raising these concerns earlier this year. Today, I again hand-delivered calls from Lewis County veterans and their loved ones, with the hope of impressing upon the Secretary the gravity of this situation. I’ll continue to look for every avenue possible to raise this issue with the VA and make it a reality.”

During the tour of the medical center, Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez visited the VA FARMS Program, which hosts daily gardening sessions, agricultural vocational training, and weekly courses from licensed providers for veterans recovering from substance use disorders.

In her time with Secretary McDonough and VISN 20 leadership, the Congresswoman discussed the need to make high-quality care more accessible for rural veterans. She stressed the urgency of not only reopening a VA clinic in Lewis County, but also ensuring veterans are aware of their options for care and can receive transportation to appointments.

There are more than 62,000 veterans in Southwest Washington, nearly 1 in 4 veterans in Washington live in rural areas, and roughly 2.7 million veterans in rural areas across the country are enrolled in and rely on the VA’s health care system.  

The Congresswoman also spoke with the Secretary about delays she has heard about for veterans transferring primary care from the Portland VA Medical Center to the Vancouver VA Medical Center.

When VA Puget Sound closed the Chehalis clinic to cut costs, it left a void from Olympia to Vancouver for many of the 3,400 heroes it served. Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez has met with veterans in Lewis County, and they have expressed that, in some instances, they wait hours on hold for appointments that are scheduled months away and require a full day of travel.

The Congresswoman has also spoken with patients and providers at the VA Puget Sound’s Mobile Medical Unit (MMU), which visits Chehalis one day a week with capacity to serve only 8 veterans each visit.

This past September, Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez wrote to the VA Secretary requesting additional county-level data as a first step toward addressing gaps in care for rural veterans, which the agency was unable to produce.

In Skamania County, no-cost transportation for veterans to access medical appointments lost eligibility last year for the VA’s Highly Rural Transportation Grant (HRTG) Program, which provides grant funding for Veteran Service Organizations and State Veterans Service Agencies to provide these critical services.

In February, Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez introduced the bipartisan Rural Veterans Transportation to Care Act to update outdated eligibility definitions of rurality and help more rural veterans get access to the care they’ve earned. The legislation would make Skamania County once again eligible for HRTG Program funding, as well as make Clark, Cowlitz, Lewis, Pacific, Thurston, and Wahkiakum Counties newly eligible.

Last October, the Congresswoman sent a letter to the VA Secretary urging the VA to fill transportation gaps for rural veterans and work with Congress to redefine highly rural. In a February reply, the Department of Veterans Affairs expressed support for the provisions outlined in the Rural Veterans Transportation to Care Act.

Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez continues to support increased, robust funding for VA services, and two of her amendments passed the House last month to call on the VA to report efforts to ensure veterans in proximity to a clinic closer can access healthcare and to underscore the need to modernize eligibility definitions for the HRTG Program.

Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez has recovered more than $182,000 for constituents owed to them by the Department of Veterans Affairs. She also co-led the bipartisan VET MEDS Act to support veterans’ access to VA-certified specialists and examiners in rural and high-need communities, which was signed into law as part of a larger Senate package in October 2023.

Last month, she introduced bipartisan legislation to build on the VET MEDS Act by ensuring veterans have permanent, cross-state access to certified health care providers for required disability claim exams.

The Congresswoman also introduced the bipartisan Helping Heroes Act to support veteran families’ access to mental health care, peer support, and other resources that can help them lead healthier lives. Her bipartisan PARA-EMT Act would make it easier for veterans who served as medics to transition to becoming certified EMTs and paramedics after returning home.