NORFOLK, Va. - Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin laid out his priorities for fixing the Dept. of Veterans Affairs during a speech at the American Veterans Convention on Wednesday afternoon.
The U.S. Senate confirmed Shulkin to the secretary position in February, and since then he hasn't shied away from the department's problems. "You can't fix problems if you don't acknowledge that you have problems," he told the crowd of hundreds of veterans.
The Trump administration has promised changes to VA Hospitals around the country, following years of scandals over wait times. "If I didn't believe that we could fix the VA and make it much stronger than it is today, I would not have taken this position," Shulkin said.
Shulkin's priorities include reducing the wait times, providing more choices for health care, and increasing accountability. "We're going to make sure that if you're an employee who has lost your values and your ethics and your behaviors, you should no longer be serving our veterans and you should no longer be serving the VA," he said.
