Obama Nominee for Ass't Secretary for Policy & Planning Schwartz Says, "U.S. must find 'better ways' to get medical care to veterans."

Retired Col Linda Schwartz, PhD.

(note: Dr Schwartz once flew with the 74AES from Westover AFB, MA)
Linda Schwartz, the commissioner of Veterans' Affairs in Connecticut, gave the keynote speech at the Community Mental Health Summit hosted by the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) on Fri., Aug. 22, 2014.
Jesse Chambers | jchambers@al.com
Print Jesse Chambers | jchambers@al.com By Jesse Chambers | jchambers@al.com

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – A recently passed federal law should be good news for veterans seeking to get access to health care through the Veteran's Administration (V.A.), according to Linda Schwartz, the commissioner of Veterans' Affairs in Connecticut.

The Veterans' Access to Care through Choice, Accountability and Transparency Act – signed by Pres. Obama about two weeks ago – is "massive" and contains "sweeping changes to call the V.A. to be accountable," Schwartz said today at the Doubletree Hotel downtown just prior to her keynote speech at a Community Mental Health Summit hosted by UAB.

As part of the new law, "we are going to see if some of these things that the V.A. has been doing... are effective or not," Schwartz said.

A U.S. Air Force nurse during the Vietnam War, Schwartz has a doctorate in public health from the Yale School of Medicine.  She is also Obama's nominee as assistant secretary of Veterans Affairs for Policy and Planning at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.