By Sonya Dymova
Medill Illinois News Bureau
news@capitolnewsillinois.com
John Gerend, a Vietnam War veteran from Lake Villa, Ill., was exposed to Agent Orange while on duty. Suffering from diseases associated with exposure to the toxic chemical, he said he still considers himself fortunate.
“I’ve had some issues with it — diabetes, some heart issues and so on — but there are many more that have suffered a lot more than I have and need the care a lot more than I do,” said Gerend, 77. “It’s very upsetting to think that the people who have served their country and have lost limbs or mental health might now lose the benefits, all the support, both for mental health and physical health, and the doctors and medications available.”
“I am mad about what’s going on. I’m angry,” he added.
A retired U.S. Army first lieutenant, Gerend was among the 200 people who gathered outside the McHenry Veterans Affairs clinic Sunday, April 27 to protest the Donald Trump administration’s plans to slash the agency’s workforce, sparking fears among veterans over the prospect of worsening care and growing unemployment.
Across Illinois, protests have been gaining strength since the proposed cuts were revealed. They range from veterans protesting last month at the Capitol in Springfield to demonstrations by nurses and staff at the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center in Chicago, who are concerned about the dangers to proper care and risk for veterans.
In an internal memo to senior agency leaders on March 4, VA chief of staff Christopher Syrek said the agency’s initial goal was “to return to our 2019-end strength numbers of 399,957 employees.” VA Secretary Doug Collins later confirmed the department’s target is to fire roughly 80,000 employees later this year, but he insisted the agency would strive for more efficiency while not cutting benefits and care to the 9 million veterans it serves. According to the Pew Research Center, a quarter of the workers at the Department of Veterans Affairs are themselves veterans.
The move comes after the VA expanded during the Joe Biden administration, fueled by the passing of legislation like the 2022 Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics, PACT, Act, expanding medical benefits for veterans who were exposed to toxins from burn pits of trash on military bases.
“I’m getting later in my years, so it’s gonna affect some younger folks possibly more than me, so I’m more afraid for them than I am for myself,” said Gerend, who has used VA services for 12 years.
The level of care diminishes
Even before the cuts were announced by the Trump administration, it had been difficult for health facilities within the VA system to maintain enough staff and resources, like beds, available. According to the 2024 VA Office of Inspector General report, 86% of all Veteran Health Administration medical facilities reported severe staffing shortages of medical officers, whereas 82% reported severe shortages of nurses.
The mass slashes to the department’s workforce will only worsen the preexisting lack of personnel, according to Fallon, who said she knows of several nurses who have already submitted job applications to other places in the private sector as the threat of the layoffs looms. “A friend of mine at the St. Louis VA had her care appointment canceled because they didn’t have a provider, and that’s a direct result of the cuts,” said Jessica Motsinger, a disabled U.S. Navy veteran living 12 miles east of St Louis in the Metro East. “It really is devastating, and if it hasn’t really affected somebody, it will very shortly.”
This is not an isolated incident.
According to the official data, 247,140 Illinoisians were enrolled in the VA health care system in fiscal year 2023, and the state’s veteran medical facilities provided services to 162,366 unique patients. Although the impacts of the layoffs are likely to extend throughout the state, the cuts would hit northeastern Illinois the hardest, the counties with the highest percentage of veteran population.
Sonya Dymova is an undergraduate student in journalism with Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications, and a fellow in its Medill Illinois News Bureau working in partnership with Capitol News Illinois.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.