Locals recently stood on the Peace Corner in downtown Bend in support of veteran services, protesting federal calls to slash jobs within the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the federal agency that provides benefits and health care services to those who served in the military, along with their families.
At the March 12 protest, some denounced federal plans to reduce the VA workforce, which could result in the elimination of over 80,000 VA employees, highlighting potential strains on services, resulting in longer wait times and fewer appointments.
“These cuts are going to hurt, and they’re going to hurt a vulnerable population,” said Larry Herrmann, a local veteran who attended the protest.
The VA, which has local clinics in cities across the U.S., offers a variety of services to veterans and their families, including physical and mental health care, education and career assistance, burial benefits, housing assistance and more.
The federal administration plans to reduce the number of VA employees in an attempt to increase efficiency and eliminate waste.
“For many years, veterans have been asking for a more efficient, accountable and transparent VA. This administration is finally going to give veterans what they want,” Doug Collins, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, said in a video posted to the social media platform X.
Collins said in the video that the administration plans to do this without making cuts to health care or benefits to veterans and VA beneficiaries. Services will take a hit, though.
Heather Martin, director of local nonprofit Central Oregon Veterans Ranch, worries that federal actions could make it more difficult for veterans to access services and that there may be longer wait times for services.
“[The Ranch] doesn’t have an opinion on whether this is good or bad. What we do have an opinion on is access to services for veterans, and cuts like this have a net impact, regardless of if you’re talking about the need to cut waste,” Martin told the Source Weekly.
According to Martin, veterans already experience long wait times for a variety of services with the VA, with some often waiting five or six months for mental health care.
“The fewer workers they have at the VA, the less access to service and benefits the veterans are going to have,” she said.
Herrmann, who served from 1980 to 1994, has used the VA for a number of services throughout the years. He utilized a VA tuition assistance program, got his first home loan under the VA and got his hearing aids and a CPAP for his sleep apnea from the VA.
“I knew they were there if I needed the medical care… it was always that safety net, and that’s going away,” Herrmann told the Source. “We probably won’t feel the pain until the Bend VA clinic goes away, or they take away the VA home loan program. People forget how much the VA does.”
At this point in time, it’s unclear what VA programs will be directly affected by the VA workforce reductions. According to a statement from Secretary Collins, the VA will conduct a department-wide review of its operations and structure.
In response to possible impacts to veteran services, the ranch hopes to focus on offering a safe place for veterans in Central Oregon — something Martin said will be needed now more than ever.
“When we’re looking down a barrel of cuts like this, we’re stepping up to fill that gap, because the last thing we want to see is another veteran lost to mental illness, isolation. We want them all to feel like they’ve got a home here,” said Martin.
One of the main things that the ranch focuses on addressing is isolation among veterans. While American veterans make up about 6% of the adult population, they account for 20% of all suicides in America, equating to about 18 veterans each day.
According to Martin, isolation kills. Potential impacts to care with the VA, making it harder to access services such as peer support, counseling or medication, can further isolate people.
Being a nonprofit, the ranch has the ability to be more creative in its approach to helping people. Just last week, Martin said, a woman brought her veteran father, struggling with isolation, to the ranch to help connect him to resources.
“We’re sending an Uber for him every Thursday now, and he’s going to come have lunch with us. So, we’re able to be creative and flexible,” said Martin.
While veterans are still unsure about how job cuts will affect services to local veterans, Herrmann hopes the many veterans in Central Orgon can continue to fight for and receive the care they were promised.
“It’s important to realize that there’s a lot of veterans that you don’t see on street corners, you don’t necessarily see in the veterans parade every year — they’re all going to be affected. There are people whose lives are going to be dependent on some sort of care going forward,” Herrmann said.
This article appears in The Source Weekly March 27, 2025.
MAKE LOCAL JOURNALISM HAPPEN
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
Trump believes that those who joined the military are suckers. So, no surprise that VA services will be cut. Lots of veterans voted for Trump. You get what you vote for, I guess. But, hey, those of us who didn’t vote for Trump will fight these cuts.