Veteran needs are changing - Oklahoma must keep up

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma has seven state-run veterans centers with 1,423 beds, but the Sooner State has more than 340,000 military veterans. Furthermore, the needs of today's veterans will probably be much different from the requirements of veterans from World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

Those were among the messages delivered during an interim legislative study conducted by the Health Subcommittee of the House Committee on Appropriations and Budget at the request of state Rep. Claudia Griffith, D-Norman.

Maj. Gen. Myles Deering, the state Secretary of Veterans Affairs and former Adjutant General, told the subcommittee his mission statement is to provide Oklahoma military veterans with "the highest quality care they can find anywhere in the nation."

The agency's website says it is the vision of the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs that all programs administered by the ODVA for Oklahoma's veterans "will always be first in the nation in services, benefits, care, facilities, employees and relationships."

However, achieving that goal is a challenge in today's environment, for various reasons, Griffith noted.

The Legislature is facing a revenue shortfall for the third consecutive year. The budget deficit was $188 million in 2014, followed by $611 million this year, and next year's shortage will be at least $296 million.

Oklahoma's seven veterans centers need some capital improvements. The Ardmore center, for example, was built in 1910 to accommodate veterans of the Civil War, and the Sulphur and Talihina centers both were constructed in 1921. (Lawton's opened in 2003; Claremore's was completed in 1988; Clinton's was renovated in 1995 and again in 2002; and construction on Norman's center was completed in 1996.)

Adequate staffing is "a moving target," Deering said. The centers cope with high turnover rates among a staff of largely young, mobile employees.

The type of care required by the centers' residents is expected to change dramatically over the next 20 years, Deering indicated.

In the next two decades the veterans centers will face "more mental health challenges" such as PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), dementia and Alzheimer's disease; more veterans with substance abuse addictions; more orthopedic challenges, such as amputees, because of the types of injuries sustained from improvised explosive devices in Iraq and Afghanistan; large numbers of veterans coping with COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease such as chronic bronchitis and/or emphysema) because of Oklahoma's high smoking rates; and admissions of women, who are assuming even combat roles in today's armed forces.

"We need to be forward-thinking about these issues," said Griffith, a registered nurse. "In the not-too-distant future we'll need more beds for more veterans with severe health issues. These veterans answered our country's call, and we need to support them when they require our assistance. We need to start preparing now for these eventualities."

The Gayly - 12/8/2015 @ 12:27 p.m. CST