Army vet who created ‘Yelp for the barracks’ makes website to review the VA
Rob Evans, an Army veteran who created a popular Yelp-like app to report problems with enlisted barracks, has now built a new website that allows veterans to provide anonymous reviews of Department of Veterans Affairs medical facilities.
VetStats allows veterans to rate VA clinics and medical centers in terms of service quality, facilities and amenities, mental healthcare access, care access, and wait times, said Evans, who is not working with the VA on the effort.
“There’s this concept of the long tail of war, and we’re still caring for service members from the Korean War — and we’re not even at the peak of care for our Global War on Terror veterans,” Evans told Task & Purpose on Tuesday. “I want to hope that this will drive change and improvements to them and ensure our veterans are going to get the best care possible.”
A former sergeant in the Army Reserves and National Guard, Evans created the Hots & Cots app in late 2023 to allow enlisted service members to bring attention to conditions in their barracks, including mold and wasp infestations.
“I’ve kind of been asked in the last year or so from folks to expand Hots & Cots to cover the VA hospitals and facilities,” Evans told Task & Purpose on Tuesday. “And I thought now was probably a good time to do that with where Hots & Cots is.”
Right now, VetStats is only available online, said Evans, who added that he will consider eventually turning it into an app depending on how widely it is used.
As of Tuesday morning, no one has sent Evans pictures showing mold or other problems with VA facilities, he said.
VA Press Secretary Pete Kasperowicz told Task & Purpose that the department has made significant strides this year in reducing the backlog of veterans waiting for benefits, processing more disability claims, and opening more health clinics around the country.
“We’re proud that more than three-quarters of rated VA hospitals received a four- or five-star rating in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 2025 hospital quality ratings, and that more than 90% of VA hospitals maintained or improved their rating from 2024,” Kasperowicz said in a statement.
VA Secretary Doug Collins has also announced an effort to make sure that all the department’s health care facilities receive high quality ratings, Kasperowicz said.
Initially, after Evans created Hots & Cots, Army leaders treated the app as a nuisance, preferring that soldiers go through their chain of command to report barracks issues — even when their unit leaders could or would not resolve the problems.
Since then, some military leaders have accepted Hots & Cots as a viable way to report barracks issues, said Evans, who has become an influential advocate for giving enlisted troops clean and safe places to live.
“Just last night, I had a sergeant major from an installation reach out to me on a review because he wanted to get in touch with the soldier who left the review so they could work with them to make things better, vs. probably a year ago, I wouldn’t have that type of a relationship with leaders,” Evans said.
This year, Evans joined a task force established by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that is focused on improving barracks.
Like Hots & Cots, Evans said he hopes that VetStats provides veterans an outlet to report any issues they are having with VA facilities while also making sure that the hospitals themselves are properly equipped.
“I definitely want to see better improvements in wait times, quality of care, access to care, and access to care to mental health resources — that’s a big one that we’re seeing; and we’re going to see more of that as we get into care for our Global War on Terror veterans,” Evans said. “We need to make sure that our veterans are taken care of. We ask a lot from them to do a lot of things, and I think we owe it to them to be able to give them the best care. We expect the best from them. We should be able to give the best to them as well.”
