Lowcountry veteran fears impact of proposed VA job cuts on care

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) — James Weninger travels to a Veterans Affairs clinic in the Lowcountry every few months for health care treatment.

The 36-year-old veteran was medically discharged in 2023 after 14 years of active duty in the Navy and two years in the reserves. Since leaving the service, he has suffered from back pain, mental health issues, and a few other physical ailments.

“The care they provide for me is valuable because if I don’t have it, my mental health stuff will be difficult to handle, and they’re helping me through it,” he said, noting that he also participates in the Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E) job training program.

“It’s not just medical, it’s everything else the VA does, too,” he added.

Weninger said he had been satisfied with his care from the VA up until a few months ago, when he started to notice some changes.

“Doctors are doing their own scheduling, like in person, when before it would just be someone calling me,” he said, adding that though his care is ongoing, he has already experienced some appointments “getting pushed out further.”

An internal memo obtained by the Associated Press in March stated that the VA will undergo an agency-wide reorganization at the end of the summer, taking a “pragmatic and disciplined
approach to identify and eliminate waste, reduce management and bureaucracy,
reduce footprint, and increase workforce efficiency.”

The memo notes that the agency’s overall goal is to reduce staffing to 2019 levels. Thousands of employees have already been terminated, and VA Secretary Doug Collins told members of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs earlier this month that the agency is looking to cut an additional 15% of its workforce.

A statement from the VA Central Office noted that about 70,000 people could be affected by the reduction, which is intended to “eliminate duplicative, unnecessary layers of management and bureaucracy that do nothing to serve our Veterans and actually hinder our mission.” Those positions could include administrators, advisors, and mid-level managers.

“VA staffing levels have increased by more than 30% over the last decade, and the department’s budget has more than doubled, even though VA healthcare enrollment has remained flat and the department’s performance has gotten worse,” the statement read, in part.

Still, Collins insisted that job reductions would not weaken benefits or care, accusing Democrats of stoking fear.

“I will not let you sit here and scare my veterans and scare my employees,” Collins responded to a question from Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) during the contentious May 6 hearing. “No one has discussed firing doctors or firing nurses. We’ve always said that we’re going to keep frontline health care.”

But Weninger isn’t so sure.

“I couldn’t see that not happening,” he said, referencing Collins’ comments that medical personnel were not on the chopping block.

He also worries that downsizing within the VA could lead to more veterans getting pushed into community care.

The community care program allows eligible veterans to see healthcare providers outside of the VA when the agency is unable to meet an individual’s needs. It is designed to ensure veterans receive timely and adequate care if they have specialized needs or do not live close to a VA clinic.

While Weninger recognizes that community care can be a valuable asset, he said the specific expertise of VA doctors is irreplaceable.

“It’s not to say that medical doctors on the civilian side are bad — they’re just as good as the doctors in the VA — but the VA doctors understand what caused these ailments or mental health issues because they deal with just military personnel,” he explained.

Weninger is one of more than 386,000 veterans living in South Carolina, more than half of whom are enrolled in the VA health care system, according to 2023 figures from the VA, the most recent year comprehensive data were available.

Many of those enrollees — about 85,000 — receive care through the Ralph H. Johnson VA Health Care System, a network of providers that includes the main medical center in downtown Charleston and six outpatient clinics throughout the state.

Weninger, who is part of a veteran-led organization called Common Defense, traveled with dozens of other U.S. veterans to Washington, D.C., in early May to voice their concerns about the pending cuts to lawmakers.

He discussed the issue with staffers from Democratic Rep. James Clyburn’s office, and a representative from Common Defense also attempted to set up a meeting between Republican Rep. Nancy Mace’s office and the group but was unsuccessful, according to Weninger.

“We receive hundreds of requests daily, and meetings with constituents are a priority,” Mace spokesperson Sydney Long wrote in a statement to News 2. “The representative who reached out to us from the group is not a constituent of Congresswoman Mace’s district.”

Weninger said he would welcome an opportunity for a town-hall style meeting in the future where lawmakers can hear directly from their constituents.