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Clin Colon Rectal Surg
DOI: 10.1055/s-0044-1786388
Review Article

Serving Those Who Served: Enhancing Colorectal Surgery Care for Veterans

Austin Hewitt
1   Department of Surgery, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin
,
Melanie Fritz
1   Department of Surgery, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin
,
Cristina B. Sanger
1   Department of Surgery, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin
2   Department of Surgery, William S. Middleton Memorial Veteran's Hospital, Madison, Wisconsin
› Author Affiliations Funding Funding for this project was provided through the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health under Award T32CA090217. The contents of this manuscript are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the United States Government, or the National Institutes of Health.
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Abstract

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is the largest provider of integrated health care services in the United States and its mission is to honor veterans by providing timely, effective, and high-quality health care that improves individuals' health and functionality. The VA provides comprehensive primary and specialty care, including colorectal surgery services, to eligible veterans who suffer from a disproportionately high burden of medical comorbidities and often belong to vulnerable populations, including individuals of low socioeconomic status, those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning, racial minorities, and those suffering from severe mental health illness. There are many challenges to caring for a population of veterans with benign and malignant colorectal disease due to both patient and system level factors. Despite these challenges, the VA has demonstrated a commitment to ensuring culturally competent, equitable, and inclusive care and to conducting research that establishes evidence-based best practices in the management of colorectal diseases. These efforts have led to outcomes for patients undergoing care for colorectal diseases within the VA that are par with or better than civilian outcomes. The VA is uniquely positioned on a system level to provide nationwide efforts that improve care delivery and serve those who served.

Keywords

veterans - colorectal surgery - outcomes - quality of care - vulnerable populations


Publication History

Article published online:
10 May 2024

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