By Dr. Patricia Hayes
“We take care of men here,” people told Diane Harness-DiGloria when she started working at the Boston VA Health System in 1988. Veteran Peggy Mikelonis went to work at the Tampa VA after returning from Vietnam in 1972, but she would not consider going there for her own health care because “women were a nonentity in VA.”
Some women veterans tried to seek care at the VA, but turned around when asked if they were with their husbands or fathers. Some had no alternative and drove more than two hours to the closest VA facility with mammography equipment.
Stories like these abound in the VA, where 99% of patients were men until the population of women veterans began to increase dramatically following the first Gulf War in the early 90s. The number of women veterans using VA health care has more than doubled in the last decade and VA expects that number to double again. Luckily, VA facilities are not what they used to be and the VA is working hard to change the culture to be more accepting and understanding of women veterans and their unique needs.
Some of the components of the VA Culture Change Campaign include:
- Mini-residencies in women’s health, and outreach campaigns on critical women’s health issues to improve VA provider competency in women’s health.
- Orientation and training materials to educate all VA staff, from facility construction managers to check-in receptionists, on appropriate treatment of and sensitivity toward women veterans.
A poster/video/public service announcement blitz to address the intangibles of quality care such as recognizing a woman’s discomfort at sitting in an all-male waiting room or not automatically adding “Mister” to every last name on the waiting list.- An outreach effort to let women Veterans know that VA is for them.
Today, many women Veterans are telling stories about good experiences at VA. VA is hoping that trend continues.
Dr. Patricia Hayes is the chief consultant for the VA’s national women’s health program office.
