APNewsBreak: VA vows focus on customer service

Source: AP-EXCITE

By MATTHEW DALY

WASHINGTON (AP) — On the eve of Veterans Day, the Veterans Affairs Department announced a reorganization Monday designed to make it easier for veterans to gain access to the sprawling department and its many websites.

VA Secretary Robert McDonald called the restructuring the largest in the department's history and said it will bring a singular focus on customer service to an agency that serves 22 million veterans.

"As VA moves forward, we will judge the success of all our efforts against a single metric: the outcomes we provide for veterans," McDonald said. The VA's mission is to care for veterans, "so we must become more focused on veterans' needs," he said.

As part of the restructuring the department will hire a chief customer service officer and create a single regional framework that will encompass all aspects of the agency, from health care to benefits, loan centers and even cemetery plots, McDonald said. The VA now has nine organizational maps and at least a dozen websites, many with their own user names and passwords.

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Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald speaks about his efforts to improve services veterans, Friday, Nov. 7, 2014, during a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)


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