Sen. McCaskill: Veterans Affairs medical services improving in Southeast Missouri

Federal medical services provided veterans in Southeast Missouri have improved in recent years, U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., said during a visit to Cape Girardeau.

McCaskill announced the latest results of her veterans� customer satisfaction survey during a visit Friday to the state-run Veterans Home in Cape Girardeau.

The senator said her office kicked off the confidential survey in parts of Missouri in 2011 in an effort to obtain �direct, meaningful feedback on the quality of customer service� veterans are receiving.

From left, Harold Seabaugh, Mike Stafford and Thomas J. Miller listen to U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill speak Friday at the Missouri Veterans Home in Cape Girardeau.KASSI JACKSON

McCaskill said the survey was expanded to Southeast Missouri four years ago. At that time, one in four veterans surveyed said they would not recommend John J. Pershing VA (Veterans Affairs) Medical Center in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, or its outpatient clinics to other veterans.

This year, the results showed only one in 12 veterans would not recommend the services, the senator told veterans gathered at the home.

In all, 81 veterans completed the survey, according to a written report provided by McCaskill.

Veterans listen to U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill speak Friday at the Missouri Veterans Home in Cape Girardeau.KASSI JACKSON

Nearly 57 percent said they received services from the Poplar Bluff hospital while 18.5 percent reported receiving services from the Cape Girardeau outpatient clinic. The vast majority of survey respondents were men.

Four years ago, 27 percent of respondents said they found it difficult to schedule an appointment. Today, that number is 9 percent, McCaskill said.

�This year, Southeast Missouri (Veterans Affairs services) did incredibly well,� she said.

U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, right, shakes the hand of veteran Mike Stafford before speaking Friday at the Missouri Veterans Home in Cape Girardeau.KASSI JACKSON

Overall satisfaction of veterans exceeded 78 percent, according to McCaskill.

As of March 2018, the Pershing Medical Center said patients experienced an average wait at the Poplar Bluff facility of 2.89 days for primary care appointments, 5.3 days for mental health appointments and 6.94 days for specialty care appointments, according to the report.

McCaskill said it is important to continue to �put resources� in the VA system. But she said �we�ve made strides� to improve VA care.

U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill speaks Friday at the Missouri Veterans Home in Cape Girardeau.KASSI JACKSON

She said private hospitals �don�t get the scrutiny� given to VA hospitals.

McCaskill said most VA facilities are staffed by people �who want to do better� in providing medical care for veterans.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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