James Z. Wartski is working to make VA better for millions of veterans in the northeast.“Our number one goal is to improve veterans’ experience with VA,” said Wartski, director of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Experience Office in New York. VEOs report directly to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Wartski’s staff provides the authoritative perspective of VA’s customers in the 14 northeastern states and the District of Columbia. More than 4.5 million veterans live in this region, designated by VA as the North Atlantic District. Nearly 900,000 veterans live in New York alone. This input will help improve services to VA customers. These improvements may help deliver easy, effective customer service by phone or online, or may foster adoption of customer service best practices at VA facilities nationwide. “What we’re doing is building trusted relationships – one veteran, one colleague, one community at a time,” Wartski said. “A veteran’s experience is not just one moment, but a series of moments that matter. We need to own those moments.”
Wartski’s team collaborates with veterans advocacy groups in the community and connects local resources. An important part of this effort is to meet with local veterans and organizations to collect insights into the VA customer experience. “We’re working to connect what we do and what we say to what veterans feel and experience when they come to VA for the benefits and services they have earned,” Wartski said. Wartski completed over 30 years of Army service before retiring as a Colonel. His assignments included armor and airborne posts from platoon leader and troop commander to top expert on the Army’s Abrams tank. He was an engineering and facilities consultant to Walter Reed Army Medical Center and supported the facility through the transition to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center at Bethesda, Maryland. VA Secretary Robert A. McDonald created the Veterans Experience Office as a driving force behind his 12 breakthrough priorities. The VEO is designed to be nimble to break through bureaucratic clutter, and brings together teams from across the department to identify immediate and long-term improvements to make health care, products and services for the nation’s veterans. More than 250,000 veterans in over 20 states have already shared their experience and ideas with the Veterans Experience Office.