Henry Molski

hmolski@enquirer.com

Robert McDonald was home Saturday. But the former Procter & Gamble CEO returned to Cincinnati this weekend with a new title – Secretary of the Veterans Affairs.

"People want to call me Secretary," said McDonald. "I tell them to call me Bob."

McDonald is quickly becoming known across the country as the new secretary that asks people to call him by his first name, passes out his cell phone number and holds town hall meetings on VA hospital visits.

In Cincinnati, it was business as usual for McDonald. On Saturday McDonald held a town hall meeting at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Corryville. Here, he spoke to 170 VA employees face-to-face to find out their specific needs. Elsewhere, he continues his fact-finding mission into a Veteran Affairs department wrought with problems and wrongdoing.

McDonald, 59 days into his new position, told members of the press about his commitment to "building a more robust system" in an afternoon press conference. He wants this new vision in place by Veterans Day on Nov. 11.

"Think of it as a 90-day plan," he said. "We need to rebuild trust with the veterans and the American public."

The new secretary wants to serve the veterans first, this is why he asks questions to veterans directly, he says.

"How are we treating you?" McDonald says. "What can we do better? The problems are well documented. We have to earn that trust back."

As an Indian Hill native, McDonald is already well acquainted with Cincinnati, but his weekend involved learning more about Cincinnati's VA infrastructure. Joining McDonald for most of the day Saturday and his afternoon press conference was Linda Smith, Cincinnati's VA Medical Center Director.

"Linda needs more doctors, more nurses, more people and more space," said McDonald when asked what he found in Cincinnati this weekend. "We're in a land-locked area here. I've talked to Michael (Fisher, president) at (Cincinnati Children's Hospital) about this, too."

McDonald praised the work he saw in Cincinnati.

"There are pockets here that are best in class," said McDonald. "The work in mental health and post-traumatic stress disorder is outstanding."

McDonald's plan for a revamped Veterans Affairs Department also includes the hiring of more than 28,000 new employees. While there is no firm time table for the hiring process, McDonald said that this is a "multi-year journey." In Cincinnati, Smith and McDonald hope to hire about 238 more employees, specifically healthcare advisers.

His larger picture is about serving veterans. McDonald sees it in three legs. By focusing on education, research and improved clinical services, McDonald is "excited about what (he) can do for veterans."

McDonald also met with Rep. Steve Chabot and Rep. Brad Wenstrup. He had time to meet with representatives for Senator Rob Portman and Senator Sherrod Brown. He also paid visits to veteran service organizations and professionals like Kate Chard.

Chard is an associate professor of clinical psychiatry and director of the PTSD program at the VA. McDonald called some of Chard's work the "cutting edge of mental health" thanks to her work with PTSD affected patients.

Still, McDonald was still just happy to be home – even finally sleeping in his own bed again, he said. He was said it was "really exciting" to come home where he has lived since 1980.

At one point while addressing the media, McDonald drew a pyramid, explained the traditional model of a business and flipped it upside-down. The veterans, 9 million of them, were at the top, he was at the bottom. He was back to his old Cincinnati business practices.