The Veterans Affairs of San Diego is preparing for a surge of veterans in need, the agency's top official said while touring the facility Monday.
Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald wants to get the VA on track as quickly as possible.
The agency is spending $11.3 million to hire more medical staff and increase facility space in San Diego.
“We have to be forward looking, recognizing that many of our veterans who are leaving military service are settling in San Diego and we have to build up capacity to get ahead of that curve,” McDonald said.
The so-called "Road to Veterans Day" is the new secretary’s plan to recommit the agency to its mission – to serve and care for veterans.
Hundreds of VA medical centers across the country are under review following an investigation into practices at the Phoenix facility.
A whistleblower alleged that as many as 40 veterans died while waiting for appointments there.
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No longer will incentives be tied to standards of care. The medical inspector's office will be restructured.
In one month alone in the VA, McDonald and his staff have removed 250,000 veterans from lists and gotten them into clinics.
That includes 5,600 in San Diego, where access to care the secretary realizes will only continue to get more difficult as more Iraq and Afghanistan veterans return.
VA officials will also outsource care when needed, but say that is not the solution.
Saying private care won’t replace veterans care, McDonald supports important research when it comes to treatment for PTSD and other illnesses.
He also feels best practices from VA Medical Centers like San Diego should be shared with other VA centers across the country.
