WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) – Veterans Affairs is set to cut nearly 80,000 jobs nationwide, the latest round of firings at the direction of the Trump administration. The VA said its goal is to get back down to 2019 staffing levels, which were just under 4,000 employees. For a local perspective on the situation, 12 News spoke with a veteran and Wichita-area nonprofits working to serve veterans.

When veteran Alan Fitzgerald heard about government employees getting fired, he said his mind immediately went to the VA.

“I was like, ‘I really hope nothing happens to the VA because VA is government, obviously,” Fitzgerald said.

But he felt the impact quickly when one of his providers lost her job.

“She did an initial intake and she’s like, ‘I just need to let you know that next Friday, I won’t be your provider because my job is being taken away,’” Fitzgerald said.

With nearly 80,000 VA employees being let go nationwide, Fitzgerald said he doesn’t want to see the VA lose the progress it’s made.

“The VA has come a long way since I first started; it doesn’t take nearly as long now to get an appointment as what it did back in the early 90s. There are no people sitting around in the hallways waiting to be seen by a doctor,” Fitzgerald said.

The cuts are also slowing down some nonprofits working to serve veterans.

“Part of our application process is getting a referral from their therapist, doctor, someone like that to make sure the program is going to be good for them,” said Midwest Battle Buddies President Chip Neuman. “At this point, that’s not happening for us. I’m guessing that it’s because of everything else going on that we just aren’t a priority anymore.”

Many are holding out hope that the cuts will positively impact veterans’ services.

“What it looks like they’re doing, and we’re hopeful that it’s true, is that they are going to be cutting different programs that are not in use and what they want to do is reallocate the saved funds to frontline services, quicker healthcare, better healthcare, help with housing with the homeless veterans,” said Passageways Founder Jennifer Garrison.

12 News reached out to the Robert J. Dole VA in Wichita after firings were announced. While unable to comment right now, the VA said it’s continuing to work, focusing on quality healthcare and customer service to veterans.

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