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Dr. Steven L. Lieberman leads the Veterans Health Administration, or VHA, the largest integrated health system in the nation, managing a budget of more than $87 billion and overseeing the care of 9 million veterans. He is a board-certified physician in pulmonary and critical care and has over 25 years of experience with the VA.
As every year, the Department of Veterans Affairs proudly joins our nation in honoring the courage and sacrifice of veterans across the United States on Veterans Day. The heart of our mission is to improve veterans' health and well-being.
This year, the Veterans Health Administration celebrates 75 years of providing world-class health care and veteran-centered innovations. VHA is the nation's largest integrated health care system, with 6.2 million active users. We leverage our network of clinicians, researchers and other staff to accelerate the pace of biomedical breakthroughs. These innovations transform the daily lives of veterans and hold the promise for responding to their diverse challenges. On Veterans Day, we are especially proud to deliver these life-enhancing services.
Prominent in the VA's history is the department's progress in developing prosthetics. From our earliest days, the VA has worked to improve biotechnology for veterans afflicted by limb impairment. World War II ushered in the department's prosthetic development efforts, with the first laboratory and testing clinic established in New York in 1947. Since then, VA researchers at the crossroads of robotics, engineering and neurosciences have worked tirelessly to meet veterans' needs. Today, those researchers pioneer groundbreaking neuroscientific discoveries, and these findings allow restoration of full sensory function with advanced prosthetics. Veterans have been given back the sense of touch and feel.
There are countless stories of veterans improving their lives with the help of the VA, such as Army veteran Josh, who credits the department as being instrumental to getting his "life back together" after experiencing traumatic brain injury in the line of duty. Or Pete, an Army veteran who was able to become sober with VA support and compares the VA community to "feeling like you're in a family."
Veteran improvements go beyond clinical services, too. Richard, an Army veteran, experienced a period of homelessness and unemployment. With the help of a HUD-VASH voucher and the VA's Grant and Per Diem program, he is now securely housed and thriving. Wherever and whenever veterans need assistance, the VA is there.
We are proud to prioritize employing veterans, who often are inspired to give back to their fellow vets. Thirty percent of our workforce are veterans themselves. Marine veteran James Joseph, research assistant and veteran peer mentor at the Human Engineer Research Laboratories at the University of Pittsburgh, put it like this: "Veterans leading from the front in research is a great way to ensure our community's health care is protected, enhanced and less likely to be forgotten. We strive to lead with education, technology and personal insights, knowing that having chewed the same dirt, trudged the same jungle paths, slept on similar wintery mountainsides, and borne the heat of the sun in deserts worldwide, that veterans can trust fellow veterans to use our skills to continuously improve our brothers/sisters-in-arms' quality of life."
Most urgently right now, the VA has dedicated our resources and expertise to serving veterans in the COVID-19 pandemic. We have expanded telehealth and online access to health records to ensure no veteran is without accessible care. We completed more than 70 million appointments in 2020, saving lives with vaccines as well as in-person and virtual medical and mental health care appointments to veterans. These successes in the VA's health care delivery system have enabled the department to treat more than 315,000 COVID-19 patients.
Today is a day to celebrate veterans -- their bravery, courage and legacy. The VA is proud to support veterans now and promise them a brighter future ahead, fueled by VA-led innovation and advances in health care. Looking back on the success of VHA's past 75 years, we remain resolved to continue improving the lives of veterans for years to come.
