Dr. David Shulkin, former Secretary of Veterans Affairs, has written a book about his time in the Department. He told Government Matters that his oversight of community care was one of his proudest moments.
“What I found, this is a pretty important system for the country and this is an important system for veterans. So I worked hard to make sure we can make this system better, and sustainable. But in order to do that, we have to work closer with the private sector,” Shulkin said. “so I was creating a hybrid system, where based on what is best for veterans. They would either get their care in the system, for things that VA does extraordinarily well, or if the private sector did it better, they should go out to the private sector then.”