U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a member of the Senate Military Construction, Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee, today met with Bob McDonald, former chief executive of Procter and Gamble, who has been nominated by President Obama to become Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA). The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee is scheduled to hold a nomination hearing tomorrow.
During their nearly 40-minute one-on-one meeting, Senator Collins discussed the success of the Access Received Closer to Home, or ARCH, program. ARCH is a pilot program that provides VA-covered health care services through contractual arrangements with non-VA care providers. The program, which is set to expire later this year, improves access for eligible veterans — especially those in rural areas — by connecting them to health care services closer to home. Cary Medical Center in Caribou is one of five pilot sites that have been established across the country. The Togus VA Medical Center oversees treatment provided to veterans at Cary — allowing veterans in Aroostook County to receive quality care without traveling hundreds of miles roundtrip to Augusta.
Earlier this year, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved Senator Collins’ request for $35 million to extend this successful program. Today, she invited Mr. McDonald to visit Cary Medical Center, should he be confirmed by the full Senate, to see first-hand how the program is working and why it should be a model for the nation with respect to improving access to health care among rural veterans.
“The ARCH program allows veterans to receive quality care close to home and close to their families,” Sen. Collins told McDonald. “I have talked to many Maine veterans who praise this highly effective, indeed life-saving, program. In fact, one veteran from northern Maine told me that he used this program for emergency surgery for a broken hip. Had the ARCH program not been in place, he would have had to endure a 500-mile roundtrip ambulance ride to Togus. The ride would have taken more than eight hours, over bumpy, winter roads, while he was in extreme pain. Often veterans and their families are forced to stay overnight and miss work as a result of the distance they must travel to receive care.”
In addition, they spoke about Senator Collins’ work to help Maine veterans with claims made to the VA that they have suffered health problems as a result of being exposed to the herbicide Agent Orange during military training at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown during the 1960’s. At Senator Collins’ request, the Senate Appropriations Committee adopted language that she authored to establish a registry of U.S. veterans who have served or trained at Gagetown, New Brunswick who have subsequently experienced health problems, which may be related to chemical exposure. The language also requires the VA to commission an independent study tasked with investigating the link between service at Gagetown and the development of health problems and disease associated with exposure to Agent Orange.
“While I will reserve final judgment on Mr. McDonald’s nomination until his confirmation hearing is complete, I am encouraged that, as a West Point graduate and former Army Ranger, Mr. McDonald is well aware of the serious challenges facing the VA today. I appreciate that he indicated that he is eager to address not only the problems, but work to improve programs, like ARCH, that are providing critical health care services to our nation’s veterans.”
Sen. Collins has been very instrumental throughout the entirety of the ARCH program.
