VA performance improves as concerns over cuts fade, survey finds

By Brett Rowland
The Center Square

A year after veterans expressed concern over proposed Department of Veterans Affairs workforce reductions, a new survey finds care quality and overall performance have held steady or improved, and veterans are not reporting that cuts have affected access to services.

Mission Roll Call, a nonprofit veterans advocacy organization, surveyed more than 2,200 veterans in February on their experiences with the Department of Veterans Affairs over the past year. The results point to a system that is trending in the right direction, with meaningful gains in key areas, though persistent challenges in staffing and access remain.

“The needle is moving in a lot of key areas,” Mission Roll Call CEO Jim Whaley told The Center Square. “There’s still work to be done, clearly, but I think it’s moving in the right direction.”

The survey follows earlier The Center Square reporting from May 2025, when a Mission Roll Call poll found 44% of veterans were “very concerned” about proposed VA workforce reductions and 40% said the proposed cuts had caused stress or medical concerns affecting their well-being. At the time, VA Secretary Doug Collins had announced a proposal to reduce the agency’s workforce by roughly 15%, with the possibility of returning to 2019 staffing levels.

The Mission Roll Call poll tells a more nuanced story. Thirty-eight percent of veterans surveyed said overall VA performance has improved over the past year, compared to 17% who said it has worsened, producing a net positive score of +21. Quality of care posted the strongest result across all categories, with 37% reporting improvement and 10% reporting a decline, a net positive of +27.

Timeliness of care matched the overall performance score, with 38% reporting improvement and 17% reporting decline. Trust in the VA produced a net positive of +17, with 35% of respondents saying trust has improved.

Seventy-three percent of respondents rely on the VA as their primary source of health care.

Whaley said veterans surveyed are not reporting reduced access or longer wait times connected to workforce changes. He attributed part of the earlier concern to the scale of public discussion around the proposed reductions, and noted that an organization the size of the VA experiences significant workforce turnover through normal attrition and retirement regardless of policy changes.

He also pointed to the VA’s reorganization efforts, which he said have focused on reducing administrative layers and directing more resources toward doctors and health care providers.

“That is a challenge for almost every health care organization,” Whaley told The Center Square. “It’s hard to find great doctors and nurses, and everybody’s struggling in that regard.”

Staffing and continuity of care remains the lowest-scoring category in the survey, with only 28% of veterans reporting improvement and 22% reporting decline, a net positive of +6. Mental health access also warrants attention: 46% of respondents answered not applicable, a figure Whaley said reflects a portion of veterans who may not be engaging with those services.

On trust, Whaley noted that the VA’s scale of measurement sets it apart.

“I can’t think of any other health care system that measures trust at this level,” he told The Center Square. “Veterans value the health care they get. They value the VA.”

Whaley credited Collins’ early outreach – including podcast appearances, hospital visits, and direct meetings with veteran service organizations – as an important factor in maintaining the relationship between the VA and the veteran community. He said the VA’s willingness to engage with critical survey findings, not just favorable ones, has been a positive sign.

“We share information with them, and sometimes the information we get may not be exactly what the VA wants,” Whaley said. “But they’re not getting defensive about it. They’re looking at it and saying, ‘Thank you for sharing that. We’re going to work on this.’ “