The Pittsburgh VA Medical Center-University Drive, in Oakland, as photographed on Feb. 26. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/PublicSource)
Trump administration efforts to shave around 1 in 6 Veterans Affairs jobs have hit Pittsburgh. Some system users believe it’s all about waste, while others fear privatization.
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About 15 years ago, Tony Indovina became perturbed by the sight of a stopwatch at a dermatology appointment — a stark reminder that efficiency seemed to outweigh personal care. Not long after, a doctor suggested he consider seeking care through Veterans Affairs instead.
Indovina’s service as a reserve officer and a year spent in Vietnam made him eligible, so he decided to try it. The quality of care he received there in comparison to the private sector shocked him.
Tony Indovina, 79, a Vietnam War veteran with the Army, sits for a portrait in his Greenfield home, Thursday, March 20, 2025. Indovina, a prostrate cancer survivor, is concerned about the VA Hospital being privatized and says it has always been great for him and a better alternative to private options. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/PublicSource)
“I can’t tell you how many times over the years I’ve gotten follow-up phone calls, oftentimes in the evening or weekends, from these doctors just to follow up and ask how I’m doing with this or that prescription that’s been given to me or whatever issue I might present,” Indovina said.
The 79-year-old Greenfield resident still loves and uses the VA. The recent announcement of cuts to the VA by the federal government concerns Indovina. His background as a retired public school counselor makes him especially attuned to the risks of privatizing a public service, which he sees as the end goal of these cuts.
“Over the years, I’ve elected some specialized care when I’ve needed to, less and less, but through UPMC, through my private insurance, and there’s no comparison with the time and attention that you get through the VA,” Indovina said. “So that’s really what I think a lot of us really hold dear about VA services. They really do deliver the commitment to providing top service to vets, and that’s what we’re most afraid of [losing] with what’s going on now.”
Doug Collins, the secretary of Veterans Affairs recently appointed by President Donald Trump, signed off on cutting a reported 80,000 jobs at the federal agency. Cuts have already begun in the Pittsburgh area, affecting an array of positions in the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System [VAPHS].
Current plans call for cutting staff by about 15%, which amounts to more like 70,000 people, VA Press Secretary Pete Kasperowicz wrote in response to questions from PublicSource. He wrote that “though the Biden Administration astronomically grew the department’s budget and number of employees, VA wait times and backlogs increased,” which has encouraged the department to take a different approach.
He said the plan isn’t “about reducing medical staff or claims processors” but rather “about reducing bureaucracy and inefficiencies.”
Unlike Medicare, which automatically enrolls those eligible, veterans have to opt into care through the VA. Some choose to purchase private insurance, but VA plans are often low cost and comprehensive, making them appealing options for many veterans. VAPHS includes the Pittsburgh VA Medical Center in Oakland, the H. John Heinz III Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Aspinwall, and several clinics in counties including Beaver, Fayette, Washington and Westmoreland.
Some firings still to be determined
March reporting from The New York Times included a prominent dispatch from Pittsburgh, about cancellation of a Veterans Health Foundation research project regarding treatment of mouth, voice box and throat cancers. The cuts, however, go further than research.
Army veteran and U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Aspinwall, has been an outspoken critic of the cuts and sent a letter to VAPHS in late February asking for details. On March 14, he received a letter from VAPHS Executive Director Donald E. Koenig, provided to PublicSource, that detailed the firing of 11 employees across administration, research, facilities management and other roles. VAPHS requested exemptions for seven of these firings; one was granted, two were denied and four are to be determined.
Koenig wrote that the VA team has “pulled together to ensure that the impact of these losses will be as minimal as possible.” PublicSource received no response to requests for further comment from VAPHS.
“If they follow through on firing 80,000 VA employees, I think it will wreck the VA to its core,” Deluzio said in an interview with PublicSource. “It will undermine the delivery of care and benefits to veterans in Western Pennsylvania and across the country.”
Kasperowicz said the VA cannot comment further on terminations or the status of unresolved terminations due to pending litigation, a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction related to the administration’s handling of probationary employees.
There are an estimated 30,000 or more veterans in Deluzio’s district, which stretches from Penn Hills and South Fayette through Beaver County. For veterans who live in more rural parts of the Pittsburgh area, these county clinics prove especially crucial, he added.
“It will be hard to calculate the impact if we really saw the kinds of firings the Trump administration is pushing,” Deluzio said. “I think you would see more of this privatization, more outsourcing, and the problem there, beyond the lack of accountability when that happens, is in the more rural parts of our region, there are not a ton of providers there who can fill the gap.”
The VA does not support privatization and wants to strengthen the agency, according to Kasperowicz. He also noted support of the MISSION Act, which allows VA patients to voluntarily access care in the private sector outside of VA facilities.
When Trump signed the MISSION Act during his first administration, Indovina began worrying about privatization. He wants to see standard VA care protected and worries cuts will make service worse, which will then build up resentment toward the program and make it increasingly vulnerable as veterans opt out of care.
“Regardless of how people feel, whether they believe or don’t believe that the cuts would result in the decline of service,” he said, “I can’t really tell you that I’ve personally heard, directly or indirectly, any dissatisfaction about veterans services.”
Kasperowicz characterized the administration’s aim as “generational reform” and cited as a “case in point” the VA’s recent announcement that it will phase out treatment for gender dysphoria. That includes voice training, hormone therapy and gender-affirming prosthetics, which the VA has offered for “more than a decade,” the agency noted in a March 17 press release.
Kasperowicz said the savings will go to helping paralyzed veterans and amputees.
In a statement to NBC News, Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson sharply criticized the phase out, characterizing the VA as “complying with an administration hellbent on harming and scapegoating the transgender community.”
‘When we gonna hear back?’
Exit polls showed around two-thirds of veterans who voted in the 2024 presidential election chose Trump, and some veterans trust that the cuts to the VA will specifically target wasteful spending as per the mission statement of the Department of Government Efficiency inspired by billionaire Trump donor and key adviser Elon Musk. The Tribune-Review reported in March that some Republican veterans believe the cuts won’t negatively impact service.
Indovina has a close friend around his age with conservative leanings who recently enrolled in VA services, at Indovina’s urging, after the passing of the PACT Act, which expanded care to veterans exposed to toxic substances. Prostate cancer, like the case Indovina overcame, is presumed by the VA to be caused by Agent Orange, an herbicide Vietnam veterans were exposed to during their service.
Indovina said his friend believes that cuts are “not going to result in his services being taken away.”
Marine Corps veteran Greg Carpenter, a 51-year-old biology teacher from Export, didn’t know about the VA for years. In 2019, Carpenter visited a VA facility simply to get identification for free coffee at Giant Eagle but ended up learning about health care plans. He has benefited greatly from the VA – for example, he’s currently in a program called MOVE!, which helps him with weight loss.
“The VA itself, the VA hospital, the people I’ve worked with at the VA, unbelievable people,” Carpenter said.
His experience with the VA hasn’t come without issues. During his service in the ’90s, a mortar explosion damaged his ear. “Honestly, I don’t recall the details completely,” he said. “It’s been a long time. But I do remember coming back from the field not hearing well, that’s for sure.”
He said he has had to repeatedly file disability claims and take multiple hearing tests for what he believes to be tinnitus. It’s still unresolved, and he said he’s contacted U.S. Sen. John Fetterman and state Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Adams and Franklin counties, to no avail.
“If they’re going to be cutting funding even more, well, when are we going to get in there and get this stuff done?” Carpenter said. “When we gonna hear back from this stuff?”
Carpenter said he’s “all about eliminating waste. … I mean, in my own household, I eliminate waste as much as I can. We’re frugal with our money. But … if there are cuts, they need to be smart.”
Matt Petras is an independent writer and adjunct professor based in the Pittsburgh area. He can be reached at matt456p@gmail.com.
This story was fact-checked by Rich Lord.
This article first appeared on PublicSource and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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