New Central Alabama VA Director Speaks Out

The Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System has had a series of interim directors over the last two years.

That’s made it hard to make any lasting changes at the VA.

While the hospital has seen improvements, up to a rating of two out of five stars for most of the year, a new permanent director should help continue that change.

“We have needed leadership in place in Central Alabama to make the strides we need to make for veterans on behalf of their access to care,” said Rep. Martha Roby.

Congresswoman Martha Roby has made the VA one of her top priorities, and she met with the new Central Alabama VA director Dr. Linda Boyle to see what her plans are for the hospital.

Boyle has an extensive record in both the military and medical professions.

She’s been on the job for about two weeks, and says she’s already noticed one area that needs a lot of help.

“Communication. A lot of things seem to be done through email. It’s more important to me that people have conversations face to face. I’ve already had several conversations face to face where we’ve worked with our union partners,” said Dr. Boyle.

One of the biggest complaints at the Central Alabama facility has been wait times.

While part of the recent improvements include shorter wait times for some patients, Boyle says she plans to focus more on the veterans themselves to keep that change moving in the right direction.

“We can talk about my access numbers. I can tell you that I can have appointments within seven days. What’s more important to me is not the access but the veterans perception of that access. If the veteran doesn’t perceive that that appointment has been made when they want it, then that becomes an issue,” said Boyle.

Dr. Boyle just moved here from Alaska where she worked for 15 years as the associate nursing director and most recently the interim director for the whole system.