Veterans healthcare under siege

Santa Fe, New Mexico — Veterans healthcare is under siege. Over 40,000 positions have already been cut by Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins. Per the Veterans for Peace “Save Our VA” spring 2026 report, “All 139 VHA facilities reported shortages, with 94% facing severe medical officer vacancies and 79% facing nurse shortages.” 

To be clear, the objective of the Trump cabal is to administratively murder at least two million veterans. To those who believe this is a severe statement, remember that when Trump’s nephew pleaded for help with medical costs for his severely disabled son, Trump told him that to end his son’s pain and suffering, he should let his son die. So imagine the lack of concern Trump has for the veterans he has spit on in sabotaging veterans’ healthcare, Medicaid and Medicare.

After Trump cut VA payments for home healthcare aide services in March, elderly and infirm veterans across New Mexico and rural Texas have been left without the support they need to conduct their daily lives. And veterans medical centers are being dismantled on every level as revealed by a whistleblower in an April townhall meeting about the Albuquerque, New Mexico, VA.

The result of these shortages is exemplified by veterans dying in the emergency room (ER) of the Albuquerque VA waiting for care. In one instance, a lack of supplies caused a veteran to die just an hour after major open heart surgery. In other words, the ER now lacks the specialized post-operative resources needed to keep post-surgical veterans alive.

The Albuquerque VA has had a complete exodus of anesthesiologists, leaving operating rooms dark for 13 hours every single night for months.

ER patients presenting with nighttime surgical needs are routinely turned away. 

The Hematology and Oncology (cancer care) clinics have lost ALL of their primary hematologists and oncologists, completely dissolving those departments; life threatening cancers are being managed without physician oversight. And 100% of the facility’s Pulmonary and Critical Care (ICU) physicians have resigned in protest.

Unsafe conditions and the impact on morale have driven a mass exodus of primary care doctors and nurse practitioners in the Albuquerque Veterans Hospital.

Thousands of veterans have now gone over two years without seeing a doctor consistently. In that time, developing dangers such as cancer and other tumors may grow without diagnosis or treatment.

Using rigid registered nurse (RN) checklists, the VA’s internal system triggers immediate blanket cancellations of specialty consults in Addiction and Recovery Care (CARA). Because these cancellations happen administratively before an internal specialist can evaluate a veteran’s file, veterans are systematically blocked from both internal care and private community options. 

This barrier causes severe, dangerous delays, while piling on a heavy workload on overstretched primary care providers. These fascists in the Trump administration and the Heritage Foundation are plotting two conspiracies simultaneously. They send people to fight to steal or destroy Iranian wealth, technology and lives, while deviously decapitating and disemboweling the veterans’ medical system they will desperately need after coming home.

More cuts are expected this August. Veterans, veterans service organizations and their allies are preparing to fight to restore services cut and stop any further cuts.