Leaders at Alaska’s veterans health care system are planning to expand the agency’s workforce in the state.

The agency, which provides health care services to all veterans in Alaska, currently has about 550 employees but plans to add another 100 soon, said Alaska Veterans Health Care System Director Dr. Timothy Ballard.

He visited Kenai Thursday to meet with staff at the Kenai VA clinic and to host a town hall meeting for veterans at the Kenai Visitors and Cultural Center, which he has done once every three months since taking the job.

President Donald Trump’s administration increased the Veterans Affairs budget by about 6 percent, “the healthiest our budget has been” in the last few years, Ballard said.

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