FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 
October 16, 2025
CONTACT: press@iava.org | 917-326-4002 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), the nation’s leading nonpartisan organization representing the post-9/11 generation of veterans, today announced the Modernization of Veterans Healthcare Project, a national initiative led by Dr. David Shulkin, 9th Secretary of the VA. The project strengthens the VA through modern coordination, transparent data, and care models that reflect the realities of post-9/11 service and current medicine. 

For eight decades the VA has carried the country’s promise to those who served. Many core structures were designed for a different era. Today’s veterans return from multiple deployments with blast effects, toxic exposures, chronic pain, sleep disruption, and the demands of modern families and careers. Medicine and data science have advanced. The system can advance with them. 

“Healthcare is undergoing unprecedented technological change, and it is essential that the VA evolve as well,” said David Shulkin, MD, Ninth Secretary of Veterans Affairs and chair of the modernization project. “Our objective is to support VA’s modernization so that every veteran receives the timely, world-class care they have earned.” 

The project convenes clinicians, researchers, policymakers, and veterans to deliver concise recommendations and interim outputs across seven initial priorities: 

1. Opioid-free pain management and rehabilitation 
2. Toxic exposure recognition and treatment 
3. Transparency and public reporting of VA performance data 
4. Community care integration and follow-up coordination 
5. Suicide prevention and continuity of mental-health care 
6. Medicare subvention reform to recover federal dollars for veterans care 
7. Centers of Excellence for complex and specialized conditions 

Dr. Kyleanne Hunter, CEO of IAVA, said, “Modernization is a plan for better access, stronger coordination, and clear accountability. We will publish concise guidance, equip advocates, and track progress in public.” 

The Modernization of Veterans Healthcare Project operates within IAVA’s Veterans Impact Platform, which combines real-time insight, expert convening, and targeted advocacy to produce measurable reforms in healthcare, education and career, and the life and family impact of service. 

Launch Event 

Thursday, October 23, 2025 | 2:30 p.m. ET 
The National Press Club | 529 14th Street NW | Washington, DC – Fourth Estate Room 
Speakers include Dr. Kyleanne Hunter, Dr. David Shulkin, Wayne Smith, and Lou Elliott-Cysewski. 
Media RSVP: press@iava.org 

About IAVA 

IAVA is creating an America where veterans thrive. 

We are the pointy end of the spear, leading the movement to build modern systems of care, learning, and opportunity worthy of those who served. Veterans today live, work, and serve in ways no generation before them ever has. Yet too many still face outdated systems that do not reflect who they are or what they carry home. 

IAVA exists to change that. We unite lived experience, credible data, and practical policy design to create real progress in three essential areas: Healthcare, Education and Career, and Life and Family Impact of Service. 

Through advocacy, research, and public education, we turn evidence into action and ideas into measurable reform. We convene the nation’s most trusted voices to make good on America’s promise to its veterans—and to create a future where every one of them can thrive. 

###