November 23, 2005

VA Manila Director, Staff Win Accolades from President Bush

The U.S. Mission to the Philippines is pleased to announce that the director of the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office and Outpatient Clinic in Manila was recognized this year with the prestigious President’s Rank Award. This is an annual award bestowed by the White House that recognizes career senior executives for exceptional long-term accomplishments.

Barry Barker, Director of the Manila Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office and Outpatient Clinic, was recognized for the accomplishments he and his staff have made over the past six years in improving overall service to the many U.S. veterans living in the Philippines. Quality of care, quality and timeliness of claims processing, and quality and timeliness of medical examinations rank Manila at the top of all VA offices in overall service to veterans.

Opened in 1922, the VA Manila office is an integral part of the U.S. mission to the Philippines. The office provides medical care, disability compensation and pension benefits, vocational rehabilitation, education benefits, insurance, and burial benefits to veterans of the U.S. military. Because of their unique tie to the U.S. and substantial contribution to the war effort, Filipino veterans of World War II are also entitled to disability compensation for injuries incurred during the war. For this reason, the only VA office outside the U.S. is located in Manila.

Veterans Affairs Nurse Rowena Carbon takes the vital signs of a patient at the VA Outpatient Clinic.

The VA Regional Office administers compensation, pension, and education benefits. It is operated by four Americans and 100 Filipinos, and processes 10,000 benefit claims each year. The VA Manila office pays yearly benefits of $163.2 million to 17,474 beneficiaries, of whom 7,389 are veterans. About 87% of the payees are enrolled under a direct deposit program and receive their monthly benefits through accredited local banks.

Veterans Affairs Manila employee Rina Barrera with a veteran’s claim during a VA Outreach visit.

The VA Outpatient Clinic opened in 1958 and offers health care services to eligible persons throughout the Philippines. The clinic employs two Americans, 84 Filipinos, and 18 Filipino contractual employees. Health care services are provided by staff physicians under a primary care concept and by contracted specialist consultants. Social work, pharmacy, x-ray, laboratory and prosthetics services are all available at the clinic. Inpatient care is limited to treatment of service-connected conditions and is provided through fee-based arrangements with private hospitals. The Outpatient Clinic is part of VISN 21, which includes facilities in San Francisco, Palo Alto, Martinez, Fresno, Reno and Honolulu. Operating on an annual budget of more than $5 million, the clinic received more than 17,000 patient visits last year.

In addition to administering veterans’ benefits, VA Manila also provides administrative support to the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA), which has 15 claims examiners and three service representatives who attend to customers. It pays about $9.8 million every month to its 19,155 beneficiaries. Of this number, 2,550 are receiving special veterans benefits with a total disbursement of more than $1.2 million.

In 1948 the U.S. Congress authorized funding to construct and equip the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) in the Philippines as a token of gratitude to Filipinos who served in World War II. The total cost of the facility was $9.4 million, and it was turned over to the Philippine government in 1955. From 1960 through approximately 1990, VA Manila administered a grant of $500,000 per year to help VMMC upgrade its equipment and physical plant. From 2002 through 2005, VA Manila again provided a yearly grant of $1 million to replace obsolete and inoperable medical equipment. This grant was also used to establish and equip a modern Hemodialysis Unit at the Medical Center.

Congratulations to Barry Barker and his staff at Veterans Affairs Manila for the excellent customer service and dedicated care they have provided veterans over the years.

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