Published: Monday, October 8, 2012, 12:01 a.m.

That is changing rapidly, thanks to VA's commitment to improve women's health services, to hire more gynecologists and other female health specialists, and to close a "gender gap" in preventive health services and screenings, says Dr. Patricia Hayes, chief consultant for Women Health Services for the Veterans Health Administration.

Hayes and her staff have studies and data to show recent gains. They range from patient satisfaction surveys to numbers of staff physicians newly trained to provide for female health needs, and to a new report showing a narrowing of gender disparity in preventive health care screening.

Following a 2008 report on deficiencies in primary care delivery to women, the VA decided to act.

"That really launched us on an overall plan to implement major changes in health care for women (to) make sure every woman veteran gets the right kind of health care," Hayes said. "We recognize that there's been a tremendous influx of women. We have beefed up and accomplished a lot, and we recognize we are still facing a large challenge ahead."

Today, 17 percent of female veterans are enrolled in VA health care vs. 20 percent of male veterans. But women returning from recent conflicts are using the VA in much greater numbers then previous generations.

In an interview, Hayes and Dr. Sally Haskell, acting director for comprehensive women's health, conceded that challenges remain to reach full equality of access and services for women vets, particularly in VA community-based outpatient clinics. But the recent gains have been impressive and will continue, they say.

"They felt unwelcomed and invisible. We are changing that culture," Hayes said.

In 2008, only 33 percent of VA health care facilities offered comprehensive primary care to women. Today, women can get full primary care services at 90 percent of VA's larger hospitals and medical centers and at almost 75 percent of its community-base outpatient clinics, Haskell said.

Four years ago, many female veterans visited VA clinics and were referred to larger hospitals, having then to travel "hours and hours to get basic primary care for things like birth control and (vaginal)infections and getting their mammograms arranged," said Hayes. The number of areas of the country where that's still true have fallen sharply.

Read more:

With reforms, more women opt for VA health care