Press Releases

WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) met with David Collins, the new Director of the Hampton VA Medical Center, at Sen. Warner’s office in Washington, D.C.

In the meeting, Sen. Warner and Director Collins discussed staffing challenges and shortages at the Hampton VA Medical Center and how these factors may have contributed to the problems raised last month by an Inspector General report related to managing and tracking supplies. Additionally, they spoke about suicide prevention efforts and strategies for reducing wait times for medical services, including primary care and mental health care. During the meeting, Sen. Warner also reiterated his commitment to increasing access for one of the fastest growing veterans populations in the nation and pushing for the completion of a new VA Community Based Outpatient Clinic in South Hampton Roads.

“Our veterans have sacrificed so much for the nation – the least we can do is to make sure they get top-notch medical care once they are back home,” said Sen. Warner. “I am committed to working with Director Collins to help mitigate the challenges at Hampton VA Medical Center. But the VA also needs more capacity in the Hampton region to meet the growing demands of our veteran population. While we may have cleared the last Congressional hurdle for approving the new clinic lease prospectus in South Hampton Roads, our work is not done until this clinic is fully-functional and serving our veterans.”

Sen. Warner has been a longtime advocate of improving care for veterans in the Commonwealth. In 2017, he successfully pushed for Congress to approve overdue medical leases on 28 major Veteran’s Affairs (VA) facilities, including one in Hampton Roads, which is projected to ease the workload at the Hampton VA Medical Center, and another in Fredericksburg. Since then, Sen. Warner has pushed to get these facilities up and running by pressuring the GSA and the VA to move these projects forward, pushing the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to sign off on these clinics’ lease prospectuses, and successfully urging the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) to bring up the prospectuses for approval.

Sen. Warner has also long fought to reduce wait times for veterans in Hampton Roads. In 2015, confronted with wait times that were three times the national average, Sen. Warner successfully urged the VA to send down a team of experts to try to address the problem. He also succeeded in getting the Northern Virginia Technology Council to issue a free report, detailing how to reduce wait times.

Director Collins, who was appointed director of the Hampton VA Medical Center in August of 2019, is a 28-year Veteran of the Navy Medical Service Corps, whose recent appointments include service as the Executive Assistant to the Navy Surgeon General, Commanding Officer of the Jacksonville Naval Hospital, and Chief Operating Officer of the Naval Hospital in Bremerton, Washington. He also spent time as the Executive Officer for NATO’s Multinational Medical Unit in Afghanistan, demonstrating an ability to relate to other military Veterans with a similar background. He is a current resident of the Hampton and Chesapeake Community.

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