Women's Distrust of VA Hard to Shed

Women's Distrust of VA Hard to Shed
November 22, 2010
Star Tribune
At the sprawling Minneapolis Veterans Medical Center, the women's care center is tucked away in a corner of the fourth floor, accessible only through hallways filled with men. Until a recent remodeling, the exam rooms faced out into the hallways.

Even advocates for female veterans can find themselves anxious about making a visit. That was the case recently for Trista Matascastillo, one of the founders of the Minnesota Women Veterans Initiative Working Group.

A Navy veteran who joined before her 18th birthday, she recently went to the VA for an exam to determine compensation and pension benefits. While there, she said, she encountered a male OB/Gyn on contract who left the door open and complained about women "crying sexual harassment." Afterward, lost in the labyrinth of hallways, she sat down in a hallway and cried.

When her group, a diverse collection of women who have served in the military, met recently at the Minneapolis VA, she hesitated to go inside.

"Why would I tell someone to go back?" she asked.

Female vets are making less use of VA health services than their male counterparts, even though they face comparable health problems.


A 2007 study found that 15 percent of female veterans used VA health care services compared with 22 percent of male veterans, with the difference largely attributable to issues of accessibility. As recently as three years ago, only about a third of VA medical centers and clinics provided services specific to women.
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Womens Distrust of VA Hard to Shed