“I am very proud of all VA employees for their tireless efforts to care for our Nation’s heroes during the global pandemic. Visiting Lebanon provides me an opportunity to see first-hand what our health care heroes are facing on the ground,” said Wilkie. “I was so pleased to see how well South Central Pennsylvania Veterans are being cared for here.”

Wilkie met with senior leaders who briefed the VA secretary about the facility’s response to COVID-19 and its plan to Move Forward. He toured the medical center’s new cancer care and infusion clinic , new Intensive Care Unit, Surgery Unit and Sterile Processing Service, where the facility became the first VA facility in the nation to sterilize N95 masks. Additionally, Wilkie also took time to meet with some Veterans from the hospital’s Community Living Centers.

Wilkie is the head of the US Department of Veterans Affairs, and oversees Veterans' benefits, health care, and Veterans' memorials and cemeteries, as well as, VA’s Fourth Mission, to support communities during times of national emergency, like the COVD-19 pandemic. He is a member of the President’s Cabinet.

As part of the Secretary's goal of continuing the comprehensive VA response to COVID-19, he is visiting VA medical facilities nationwide.