Veterans Care Today: Dr. Ada D. Stewart On How The US Has Improved Its Care For Veterans Over The Past Five Years
An Interview With Eric Pines
Learn to say no — I wish early on someone told me that it’s okay to say “no”. I had found myself over committed due to feeling guilty about saying “no”.
The daily headlines remind us of how countries around the world care or do not care for their military service members. How does the United States hold up with regard to how it cares for its veterans? We know in the past questions have been raised about the VA system, but it seems that a corner has been turned and veterans’ care has improved. How exactly has the VA system been improved? How does the US care for veterans compared to other comparable countries? What exciting new technological or methodological innovations are being used to improve veterans’ health outcomes? To address these questions, we are talking to successful physicians, healthcare workers, veterans, or other VA employees and officials who can share stories and insights from their experience about the state of veterans’ care today and how the US has improved its care for veterans over the last five years.
As a part of this series, I had the pleasure to interview Dr. Ada D. Stewart.
Dr. Stewart is a Board Certified Family Physician and HIV Specialist in Columbia, SC who practices in a Community Health Center caring for the underserved living with HIV. Dr. Stewart is past President and past Board Chair of the American Academy of Family Physicians — the first African American Female to serve in this role. Dr. Stewart joined the US Army Reserve after the events of 9/11 and has risen to the rank of Colonel.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive into our interview, our readers would like to get to know you a bit. Can you tell us a bit about your backstory and a bit about what brought you to this specific career path?
I was born in Cleveland, Ohio and raised in a housing project. Prior to attending medical school, I worked as a pharmacist. It was while working as a pharmacist and the untimely deaths of both my mom and dad from preventable illnesses, (my mom from breast cancer and my dad from heart disease) that I realized the impact I could have as a family physician. Due to my upbringing, I was committed to serving the underserved, and when the opportunity to apply to the National Health Service Corp as a Scholar, I seized the opportunity. After completing my Family Medicine Residency in Columbia, South Carolina, I began working with one of the Community Health Centers, again reaffirming my commitment to serve the underserved.
I have always thought of myself as a servant leader. I have always felt that one should be involved in change, and be the voice of change — this steered my resolve to be involved in organized medicine. I am honored to have serve numerous leadership roles on the local, state and national levels. The events of 9/11 sparked my resolve to serve my country, joining the US Army Reserves. Serving in the military helped me build on my leadership skills, build new friendships, and travel to places I never imagined. My commitment to service has truly lead me on this journey to serve my family, my patients, my community, my specialty, and my country.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
I would say the most interesting story has been being elected by my peers as the 74th President of the American Academy of Family Physicians. I was only the 4th woman and the first African American female to serve in this role. This lead me to realize that many other women and persons of color looked to me as a true role model. I realized that I now had a platform to not only promote family medicine but also women and lift them up. As the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said “Women belong in all places where decisions are made. It shouldn’t be that women are the exception.”
I also am proud that as the Board Chair of the American Academy of Family Physicians during the COVID-19 Pandemic I was seen on television across the country promoting vaccinations in children. I received messages from all over — after folks saw the commercial.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Maya Angelou — “I ‘ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel” . This quote keeps me grounded and humble as I live life.
My other “Life Lesson Quote” — Nelson Mandela “Do not judge me by my successes; judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.”
This quote helps me realize how it is important to continue to try even if you fail, it helps me have the courage and bravery to attempt things that I believe possible.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
I am now working on a few projects, such as working with Healthy Women on their Ready, Healthy & Able military campaign. There are many gaps that exist in regards to the health of women in the military. I am passionate about the need to educate women regarding sexually transmitted infections (STI’s) — both in regards to prevention and treatment. I am also passionate about the empowerment of women.
I have been honored to give numerous presentations/educational lectures on prevention of HIV/AIDS, STI’s and COVID-19.
In addition, I am set to do some media projects regarding COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy — helping to protect vulnerable populations from the complications around COVID-19 and the flu.
Also, as Chair of the American Academy of Family Physicians Commission on Diversity Equity and Inclusiveness, I am looking to address racial, ethnic and other disparities that continue to exist in health care.
How would you define an “excellent healthcare provider”?
I train medical students and always tell them that to be an excellent healthcare provider one must listen to their patients, show compassion and empathy, be a partner in their care, meet them where they are, be humble, and of course, be a lifelong learner keeping up to date on the latest evidence-based medical care, and be open to learn from your patients.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the main focus of our interview. Based on your experience can you please share three recent improvements to veterans care that you are really pleased about?
I am pleased to see improvements related to: 1) Mental health/suicide prevention; 2) Access to care 3) Care of individuals living with Hepatitis C.
In contrast, can you highlight three areas of veterans care that still need improvement? What would you suggest needs to be done to address those challenges?
There still needs to be continued improvement regarding mental health services and suicide prevention in our veterans. To achieve this, we must remove the stigma associated with mental health and there needs to be additional resources — including providers. That is why the HealthyWomen Ready, Healthy & Able campaign is so important.
In addition, as we see more women in the military there needs to be more education related to women’s health, including reproductive health. To address this, we need to also retain more females in the medical officer ranks to assist with the unique needs of veteran women.
Lastly, there needs to be improvement related to access to care, although there has been some significant improvement there is room for more. One must remove barriers to care outside the VA system such as addressing reimbursement issues. There is a need to improve compensation to healthcare providers making it comparable to civilian employers. There is a need to improve and streamline the credentialing process and decrease the administrative burden faced by healthcare providers within the VA system.
From your perspective how does the US care for veterans compared to other comparable countries?
From my perspective, the US does a great job compared to other comparable countries. The US system is much larger than other systems covering millions of veterans. The US annual VA budget far exceeds many other countries. In addition, there is usually no monthly charge for care.
What exciting new technological or methodological innovations are being used to improve veterans’ health outcomes?
I am aware the VA system has been promoting “Diffusion of Excellence Programs” to encourage innovation.
In addition, electronic medical record systems are improving with the goal of identifying gaps in medical care, as well as addressing prevention, opioid, alcohol, other substance use and more.
This is our signature question that we ask in many of our interviews. What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Started My Career”?
- Save more money/invest more — I was not taught to save or invest and as I got older, I realized the importance of such, especially as I look towards retirement.
- Learn work/life balance early — Early on in my career I was dedicated to working long hours and always ensuring my patients and family were well cared for. I now realize after experiencing some burnout, how important is it to find that work/life balance.
- Keep all records (military) — At the beginning of my military career, no one told me to keep every record from the military. I did not plan to retire from the military so I was not as concerned. Now I wish I did.
- Learn to say no — I wish early on someone told me that it’s okay to say “no”. I had found myself over committed due to feeling guilty about saying “no”.
- Failure is okay — I used to feel badly when I failed at something but later I learned that failure proves that you have tried. I also recall not passing a class the first time in college and having a mentor tell me that it is not the end of the world, pick yourself up and move forward. I also recall not winning an election early on in my leadership journey, but I now look back and realize that the experience gave me the courage to try again. I never would have imagined the leadership journey that I have had.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
Inspire the movement of change by your voice. As President Barack Obama once said ,“One voice can change a room, and if one voice can change a room, then it can change a city, and if it can change a city, it can change a state, and if it can change a state, it can change a nation, and if it can change a nation, it can change the world. Your voice can change the world.”
How can our readers further follow your work online? Facebook or Twitter
https://military.healthywomen.org/
https://www.facebook.com/ada.stewart.94
https://twitter.com/search?q=Dr%20Ada%20D%20Stewart&src=typeahead_click
Thank you so much for these insights! This was very inspirational and we wish you continued success in your great work.
About the Interviewer: Eric L. Pines is a nationally recognized federal employment lawyer, mediator, and attorney business coach. He represents federal employees and acts as in-house counsel for over fifty thousand federal employees through his work as a federal employee labor union representative. A formal federal employee himself, Mr. Pines began his federal employment law career as in-house counsel for AFGE Local 1923 which is in Social Security Administration’s headquarters and is the largest federal union local in the world. He presently serves as AFGE 1923’s Chief Counsel as well as in-house counsel for all FEMA bargaining unit employees and numerous Department of Defense and Veteran Affairs unions.
While he and his firm specialize in representing federal employees from all federal agencies and in reference to virtually all federal employee matters, his firm has placed special attention on representing Veteran Affairs doctors and nurses hired under the authority of Title. He and his firm have a particular passion in representing disabled federal employees with their requests for medical and religious reasonable accommodations when those accommodations are warranted under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (ADA). He also represents them with their requests for Federal Employee Disability Retirement (OPM) when an accommodation would not be possible.
Mr. Pines has also served as a mediator for numerous federal agencies including serving a year as the Library of Congress’ in-house EEO Mediator. He has also served as an expert witness in federal court for federal employee matters. He has also worked as an EEO technical writer drafting hundreds of Final Agency Decisions for the federal sector.
Mr. Pines’ firm is headquartered in Houston, Texas and has offices in Baltimore, Maryland and Atlanta, Georgia. His first passion is his wife and five children. He plays classical and rock guitar and enjoys playing ice hockey, running, and biking. Please visit his websites at www.pinesfederal.com and www.toughinjurylawyers.com. He can also be reached at eric@pinesfederal.com.
Veterans Care Today: Dr Ada D Stewart On How The US Has Improved Its Care For Veterans Over The Pa was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.