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This story is part of DAVs 2024 report, Women Veterans: The Journey to Mental Wellness. The report is a comprehensive assessment of the unique factors contributing to the staggering rates of suicide among women veterans and how the system charged with their mental health care can and must do better. Learn more at womenveterans.org.

So, my neuromuscular neurologist, I have to go to Minneapolis to see him, and its an eight-hour round trip, she said. When [veterans here] need any type of specialty care, its Minneapolis, Omaha or Fargo. And Ive been sent to all of them over the years for specialty care.

The medical center closest to her is one of two in the entire state, so Hubersthe commander of DAV Chapter 1 in Sioux Falls and a volunteer benefits advocatehas heard her fair share of stories from veterans in rural areas who struggle to access VA health care.

Thats the nature of our state, she said. But we matter too.

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, 1 in 4 women veterans who use VA health care services live in rural areas. There is a 20% increased risk for suicide among rural veterans, who also face a number of unique barriers in accessing care, such as health provider shortages, long distances to access specialty care and prohibitive travel expenses.

Hubers, who estimates she spent over $1,000 in travel expenses to see specialists over the course of 14 months, hasnt been reimbursed for such expenses in years. She said the reimbursement system is cumbersome and has rarely worked for her.

She stopped using VA-supported community care after a series of long delays and poor communication. She stopped using the Vet Center for mental health care when she lost her counselor to turnover. On top of that, Hubers experienced years of being dismissed and misdiagnosed by VA providers, making medical appointments traumatic and detrimental to her health.

Hubers now relies mostly on private health care providers outside of the VA system and pays out of pocket for mental health counseling.

It feels like a betrayal, she said, and it adds a lot of frustration and a lot of emotional turmoil to something thats already hard.

Hubers said shes grateful for how DAV has highlighted the challenges of women veterans and advocated for meaningful change over the years. Shes hopeful that a renewed focus on mental health will lead to even more progress.

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Iraq War veteran struggles to access VA care in rural area - DAV