WASHINGTON—Responding to recent allegations concerning agency misconduct and an overall lack of quality treatment for the nation’s servicemen and women, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki announced plans Tuesday to improve health care for American veterans with a new $500 million state-of-the-art waiting room.
In a press conference held at the White House, Shinseki revealed details of the sprawling, 150,000-seat complex, which will reportedly be capable of comfortably accommodating veterans for periods ranging from 90 minutes to several hours each day.
“Unfortunately, many of the honorable soldiers who serve our country return from the battlefield with physical or psychological injuries,” Shinseki continued. “Given the bravery and selflessness with which they have sacrificed for our freedoms, our military personnel deserve nothing less than the most modern, top-of-the-line upholstered chairs and their choice of over 100 periodicals from fully stocked magazine racks. That’s the VA’s solemn pledge to our troops.
Shinseki said the new 200,000-square-foot, windowless facility has been carefully designed to address all possible sitting and waiting needs of American veterans, as it will reportedly feature tasteful accent lighting, plentiful boxes of tissues, dozens of handsome framed prints of landscape paintings, a number of coffee tables, and a wide range of plants placed throughout the room.
Additionally, Shinseki stressed that establishing prompt and open lines of communication with each veteran was essential and vowed that service members who visit the new facility will receive immediate attention from the waiting room’s receptionist, who will ask them to sign in and have a seat, and as requested, give them vague answers about how long they can expect to continue sitting there waiting to be seen.
“As an American soldier serving on the front lines, it’s reassuring to know that if something were to happen to me in the line of duty, I’ll receive the best and most cutting-edge waiting room experience when I return home,” said Sgt. first class Alex Pfeiffer, currently serving at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.
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