FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 1, 2020
CONTACT: press@iava.org

New York, NY – Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America is joining forces with Team Rubicon to call on the government to begin credentialing military veterans from medical fields to assist in the fight against COVID-19.

Hospitals and Emergency Departments across the country are stretched thin in terms of staffing and COVID-19 is showing no signs of slowing down. There are over 100,000 veterans with medical expertise who can help care for patients.

“I commend Team Rubicon for raising this issue and I’m proud to join them in pushing for this much needed change. Veterans with extensive medical training are an untapped resource to help fight COVID-19,” said Jeremy Butler, CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. “We urge the government to recognize this resource and create a common-sense credentialing program to help get veterans into the fight and help alleviate medical staffing shortfalls across the country.”

“After a decade of mobilizing veterans to utilize their skills in disaster response, Team Rubicon has proven that our military men and women are uniquely trained and experienced for moments of crisis” said Jake Wood, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Team Rubicon. “COVID-19 presents an unprecedented challenge, and we should act immediately to credential qualified veterans from medical fields to get them into the fight and decompress strained medical systems. I’m honored to have IAVA join us in calling for this action.”

In order to deploy these experts to healthcare facilities, veterans must be accredited at the state level to provide medical support. The government already invested billions of dollars in the technical training needed to be a medical professional but also in forging men and women with the discipline, toughness, and commitment to mission necessary to operate under the demanding pandemic conditions; it is imperative the administration now put in place a credentialing program that allows them to rejoin the fight.

A petition urging the White House to create a credentialing program for veterans can be found here.

Founded by an Iraq veteran in 2004, IAVA is the non-partisan leader inadvocacy,public awareness and 1-on-1 care management and peer support. We organizelocally, drive historic impacts nationally and fight for over 400,000 veterans and their allies nationwide. If a veteran or their family is in need of assistance now, please reach out to IAVA’s Quick Reaction Force at www.quickreactionforce.org or 855-91RAPID (855-917-2743) to be connected promptly with a veteran care manager who will assist you. Visit IAVA’s The Vote Hub at www.votehub.org to register to vote and find polling information.

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