On March 5, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins announced that the Department of Veterans Affairs is conducting a department-wide review of its organization, operations and structure. Central to these efforts, the secretary said, is a pragmatic and disciplined approach to eliminating waste and bureaucracy at VA, increasing efficiency, and improving health care benefits and services to veterans.

As part of his review, he hopes to reduce the department’s work force by 15 percent and look at the 90,000 contracts VA administers to cancel those that are duplicative and not critical to the department’s mission of caring for veterans, their families, caregivers and survivors.

As a former secretary of Veterans Affairs, I agree changes are very much needed. The rising costs of health care; the changing face of health care delivery from inpatient to outpatient; the large number of unneeded facilities VA maintains throughout the nation; the failure to build stronger bonds between the VA and Department of Defense health care systems, the need to insure the compensation system for disabled veterans is focused on today’s economic and health care realities, and other issues should all be looked at.

Decisions to reduce inefficiencies in the nation’s second largest Cabinet department should be made so they do not impact the scope of the vital services provided by the VA. I am sure the secretary’s review will be carefully conducted so as to not negatively affect the care and services we provide America’s veterans and their families, but also the health and well-being of all Americans.

Our nation’s taxpayers have received a superb return for their unwavering support of those who have served us while in uniform. As we think about changes to VA’s workforce and services, we must keep those returns in mind.

One purpose of benefits for veterans is to ensure those who have served in our wars are treated equitably, so they will be satisfied citizens in peacetime. History is littered with........

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