From mental health to timely treatment, veterans issues were top of mind for U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Happy Valley, when she visited the Elks Lodge in Bend on Tuesday to speak with more than a dozen constituents who have served in the U.S. armed forces.

Bend is home to around 6,000 of Central Oregon’s approximately 16,000 U.S. veterans, according to Dick Tobiason, an advocate for veterans.

Local officials and veterans have been working together in recent years to improve conditions for homeless vets, including the opening of the Central Oregon Veterans Village, a community for homeless people who served in the U.S. military.

Chavez-DeRemer said she came to Bend to listen to the concerns of veterans and find solutions, noting in particular high rates of mental illness and PTSD among veterans.

“I wanted to know how well is the federal government serving our veterans for the time that they served us. And for that service, are we honoring their benefits and what they deserve?” Chavez-DeRemer said.

Taking concerns to Washington, D.C.

Chavez-DeRemer, who visited the Portland VA Medical Center on Monday, expressed concern that veterans are waiting too long to receive care. She said access needs to be improved and she will take veteran’s concerns back to her colleagues in Washington, D.C.

Her focus is on streamlining bureaucracy to help veterans receive benefits and access medical and mental health services in a timely manner, she said.

“We hear it over and over again,” Chavez-DeRemer said, referring to wait times for medical appointments and care approvals. “I want to make sure that we’re peeling back that red tape.”

VA Medical Center doctors in Portland told Chavez-DeRemer and her staff that it can take up to 50 or 60 days to get an appointment. The challenge increases for veterans in Central Oregon who may be required to travel to Portland for certain services.

“Not only can they not get into the provider here, they’ve got to drive over that mountain,” she said.

COVID-related concerns

Wanda Janus, a service officer for Disabled American Veterans, a nonprofit that assists disabled vets get services, said there are COVID-19-related challenges in Central Oregon for veterans that need attention.

“Access to care (is an issue). Before COVID, I had 30 or 40 drivers here that could transport people to Portland. I have eight or nine now. So getting people to Portland can be difficult. We have a clinic here in Bend, but it can’t provide all the specialty services,” she said.

Janus said it’s important for Chavez-DeRemer to hear issues directly from veterans so she can better understand their concerns over medical care and benefits.

Several veterans voiced concerns over reimbursements for travel to seek medical care and challenges in receiving prescriptions. Chavez-DeRemer said this is an example of the red tape that needs to be eliminated. This includes challenges in reimbursing a physician for care.

“Eventually there’ll be providers who drop these veterans because they don’t get the reimbursements that they deserve for providing the care. So that was one of the big issues,” she said.

Emotional testimony

The atmosphere in the room grew tense at times as some veterans spoke with passion about allegedly unfair treatment when seeking assistance.

“When we walk into a veteran’s facility the people there talk down to us,” said Bill Gabriel, 75, a Marine Corps veteran who served in Vietnam. “They treat some of the vets like sub-human people, and those guys turn around and try to kill themselves. That is a big concern.”

Chavez-DeRemer said Congress needs to do more to address all types of veterans concerns, from eliminating wait times at a doctor’s office, to making veterans feel honored.

“Some of the other big issues that we heard about is their honor… and the frustration that they’re feeling about that honor of service,” Chavez-DeRemer said.

Chavez-DeRemer said she appreciates the sometimes emotional testimony and is determined to bring those messages back to Washington.

“My job is to tell that story over and over and over again, on behalf of himself and all of the veterans, that they matter,” she said. “They matter here in Central Oregon, and I’m gonna listen to them.”