David Shulkin: “The opioid dependence crisis is really a national crisis.”

I received a phone call saying that the President wanted to make a change, and that's certainly his prerogative to do that, and that's what happened.

The VISN model was put in place close to 20 years ago, a very innovative model that has served VA well.

I wasn't willing to do that. I don't think that's the right thing for veterans and I stood up against them.

This is a tough job for anybody to do. What the successful secretary needs to do is to build a team around them because this is bigger than any one person, and to work very collaboratively with veteran service organizations and Congress.