ATLANTA — As the nation observes Veterans Day, former Georgia Congressman and U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins is highlighting efforts to improve health care, reduce claims backlogs and expand services for veterans across the country.
Collins, who took office in January 2025, says reducing bureaucracy within the Department of Veterans Affairs has been a major priority.
“We’re the largest integrated healthcare system in the country. We have 173 hospitals, 1300+ clinics, and we were just bogged down in bureaucracy and we’ve been able to streamline that,” Collins said.
According to Collins, the department faced a backlog of approximately 260,000 claims that had been pending for more than 125 days when he took office. He says that the backlog has since been reduced by 75% to 80%.
“We’ve taken two years just reorganizing our whole healthcare system. Taking out a lot of layers of bureaucratic management that was not helpful in actually taking care of patients at our hospitals,” Collins said.
Facility improvements are also a major focus for the department, with billions of dollars being spent to modernize aging hospitals and clinics.
“The average age for our hospitals is about 60 to 65 years old. No other hospital system in the world has to deal with the age of hospitals that we do,” Collins said.
The department has opened more than 40 new care facilities since January 2025, while nearly 300,000 people have enrolled in VA health care this year alone.
Collins says the department is also continuing outreach efforts to assist homeless veterans and those facing mental health challenges. He is encouraging former service members to take advantage of the resources available to them.
“See the benefits that you’ve earned; they’re not given to you, they’re earned by your service and we encourage you to take part,” Collins said.
Beyond improvements to veterans’ services, Collins emphasized the importance of recognizing everyone who has served in the military.
“Veterans Day is the day in which we honor all of those who raised their right hand and said that I’m willing to go where others won’t,” Collins said.
He added that the holiday recognizes service members regardless of whether they were deployed overseas or served within the United States.
“It’s not just those who deployed, it’s also for those who serve at home,” Collins said.
Collins says the day is also an opportunity to remind veterans that their service is appreciated.
“Making sure our veterans understand that this country is proud of what they have done and that we’re proud of them,” Collins said.
WSB Radio’s Ashley Simmons & Graham Carroll contributed to this story.