After a decade of crisis, veterans still need better health care.
I ran for Congress in Pennsylvania’s 14th Congressional District for many reasons: to return the health care decisions of women to them; to strengthen unions; to make education affordable; and, as a veteran myself, to advocate for my fellow service members.
After winning the Democratic primary in April, I was ready to continue fighting for these issues. However, just a month later, I found a friend and fellow veteran dead as a result of suicide. Having pushed through tragedy before during two combat tours in Iraq, I did what the military taught me to do and kept pushing forward. But after weeks of trying to push through, I realized I needed support.
When I finally reached out to the Veterans Administration (VA) to help me process this loss, I found caring and supportive staff. But I also encountered a system burdened by limited resources, facing an eight-week wait just to talk to someone. After advocating for myself, I managed to reduce the wait time to three weeks. I was authorized to seek “care in the community”-a network outside the VA-only to discover that the provider I was referred to had no experience with veterans or their unique needs. While such care might be suitable for a broken bone, it’s not enough for the invisible wounds of war. This bureaucratic delay left me questioning whether my friend had faced similar barriers during his time of crisis.
As a veteran, I’ve been hearing the statistic that 22 of our brothers and sisters take their own lives every day for over a decade, yet we’ve barely moved the needle. Yes, a crisis hotline for veterans exists now, but how effective is it when veterans still face weeks of waiting to speak with someone who understands their struggles? Luckily, I had a good support network of family and fellow veterans to help bridge the wait time, but as I leaned on other veteran friends, each of them had their own story of a fellow veteran who committed suicide.
This cannot be how we care for those who’ve served, especially when the stakes are so high. Yet, under initiatives like Project 2025, which seeks to further privatize VA health care, this kind of inadequate care could become the norm. Veterans deserve a VA system with the resources and expertise to match their sacrifices. Just as importantly, they deserve timely access to those resources. It’s hard enough to ask for help. When veterans find the courage to reach out, their needs must be met without unnecessary delays.
Through this personal tragedy, I’ve found a renewed sense of purpose. Regardless of where this campaign takes me, I am committed to fighting for the funding and systemic reforms needed to ensure that every veteran receives the timely and critical care they deserve. The mission is too important. The lives and well-being of our veterans are too important to ignore.
Chris Dziados is a veteran of the Iraq War and a resident of South Strabane Township. He is the Democratic candidate in Pennsylvania’s 14th Congressional District, which includes all of Washington, Greene and Fayette counties.