PORTLAND, ME – Today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) toured the Portland Vet Center with U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Interim Regional Manager Steven Reeves. During the tour, Senator King and Mr. Reeves met with veterans and Dr. Clifford Trott, the team leader for both the Portland and Lewiston Vet Centers, to discuss the services provided at each facility and the current staffing challenges. Senator King urged Director Reeves to continue to work to fill staffing vacancies in Maine’s network of five veterans outreach centers, which provide critical counseling services to veterans across the state.

“Maine veterans deserve nothing but the highest quality care, and I won’t rest until they receive it,” Senator King said. “I appreciate Mr. Reeves’s visit to Maine and his commitment to ensuring that every Vet Center in the state is fully staffed and able to meet the needs of the veterans they serve. I will continue to work with him, the Maine VA, and the rest of the congressional delegation to identify ways we can improve the hiring process and deliver the care and services Maine veterans have earned.”

Mr. Reeves’s visit to Maine comes at the request of Senator King, Senator Susan Collins, and Congressman Bruce Poliquin. The lawmakers have actively engaged Reeves and his office, as well as the Maine VA Healthcare System, following reports that certain Vet Centers in Maine, particularly the Lewiston-based facility, are inadequately staffed. Mr. Reeves visited the Lewiston Vet Center on Tuesday and will tour every Vet Center across the state while he is in Maine.

The VA administers veterans outreach centers, known as Vet Centers, across the country to provide various counseling services to veterans, including readjustment counseling for combat veterans, military sexual trauma counseling, and bereavement counseling. The Portland facility is one of five Vet Centers in Maine. The others are located in Bangor, Caribou, Lewiston and Sanford.

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