The Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs has seen a sizable increase in staffing at its four veterans centers since early last year.
Gov. Andy Beshear reported during his regular Thursday media briefing that staffing at the facilities has grown by 213 employees since February of 2023. That includes 175 more members of the centers’ nursing staff, and 38 more non-nursing staff members.
Beshear credited the increase to pay raises for staff, alongside local educational partnerships and training programs.
- SUBSCRIBE: Sign up for our newsletters
“Building strong partnerships with these institutions helps us with future staffing opportunities, and it gives those who partake in these trainings and clinics, exposure to a greater mission: caring for our veterans,” Beshear said.
The department also reported 221 admissions for 2024’s fiscal year, the highest amount since 2019.
“In other words, we have more space now, given that we have more staffing,” Beshear said.
A fifth veterans center in Bowling Green is also nearly constructed, and is scheduled to open next year.
This story is republished with permission from WEKU. Read the original.
Shepherd Snyder joined WEKU in June 2023 as a staff reporter. He most recently worked for West Virginia Public Broadcasting as a general assignment reporter. In that role, he collected interviews and captured photos in the northern region of West Virginia. Snyder holds a master’s degree in Digital Marketing Communication and a bachelor’s in music from West Virginia University.
