Veterans Clinic Dedication
Bristol, Virginia
Friday, December 19, 2008
One of my
highest priorities in representing Southwest Virginia
is ensuring the availability of high quality, easily accessible health care for
our region's veterans. To that end, I
have worked successfully with the Department of Veterans Affairs in order to
establish community-based outpatient clinics in communities throughout the
Ninth District. Today, we mark the
formal opening of one such clinic here in Bristol.
The new clinic
in Bristol is the first VA-staffed outpatient
treatment clinic in Southwest Virginia. When
veterans clinics are established, the Veterans Administration has traditionally
contracted with local primary care clinics to provide health care
services. The VA has chosen to provide
services in Bristol
directly rather than through a contract site. This clinic is dedicated to
serving only veterans and will be open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to
4:30 p.m.
In addition to primary care, the
clinic will also provide on-site mental health services. Should a veteran require emergent X-ray or
laboratory services, the VA has arranged for those services to be provided at Bristol Regional Medical
Center. The Veterans Administration will mail routine
medications directly to veterans and will make arrangements for veterans to
obtain any immediate medication needs at a local pharmacy.
The provision
of primary care to veterans in our outpatient clinics greatly enhances the ease
with which our region's veterans can receive medical care. The Veterans Administration maintains
hospitals in Salem, Virginia,
and in Johnson City, Tennessee.
The medical services provided through these hospitals are convenient for
those Ninth District residents who reside within a short distance of one of the
hospitals; however, for thousands of Ninth District veterans, a drive to one of
the VA hospitals is anything but convenient. For residents in some portions of Southwest Virginia the drive to and from a VA hospital
can consume the better part of a day.
During the winter months, the commute is even more difficult due to snow
and ice which accumulates more rapidly on mountainous roads.
The result of
this inconvenience is that many veterans in the area simply forego receiving
the primary medical are which promotes good health. Consequently, when veterans eventually visit
the VA hospital, they may have developed a serious condition which could have
been prevented altogether through the earlier application of routine primary
care.
I have long
suggested to the Veterans Administration that the provision of community-based
primary care services is far more convenient for veterans and promotes better
health among them than the current arrangement of requiring a drive to the VA
hospitals to receive both primary and specialized care. The provision of community-based services
would save the Veterans Administration money in the long run by promoting good
health and lessening the number of serious illnesses the VA will eventually be
required to treat.
I am pleased
that the VA has responded to my suggestions and is now working to develop
primary care, community-based outpatient clinics throughout our region. The clinic we are dedicating today is the
result of our combined efforts to better meet the needs of our region's
veterans.
The facility
that we dedicate today is approximately 8,000 square feet in size with twelve
examination rooms which is designed to serve up to 5,000 veterans, both group
and individual rooms for mental health treatment, and an EKG room. In the future the clinic will be equipped to
provide telemedicine services allowing veterans to be examined remotely by
specialists at other VA facilities.
Currently the clinic has a total of seven employees, including a
physician, a physician's assistant, two LPN's and two RN's.
In addition to
the health care services which veterans receive at the clinic, space has been
designated for veterans service organizations to assist veterans with
applications for other benefits for which veterans may be entitled.
A veteran
seeking to use the Bristol VA
clinic may place a call to a hotline established at the VA hospital in Johnson City to have his
primary care treatment transferred to the clinic. The toll free number for the hotline is
1-877-573-3529. The VA Hospital will
make the initial appointment for veterans utilizing this service. The veterans themselves will schedule their
follow-up appointments with the clinic.
I am pleased
to report that as of today, the clinic has enrolled 1700 veterans and requests
for care are received by the VA daily.
President-elect
Obama made several stops in Southwest Virginia
during the Summer and Fall. One such visit was here in Bristol where he made a point to express his
support for increasing the community-based physical and mental health treatment
of our veterans. I look forward to
working with President-elect Obama to further our mutual goal.
The clinics
which have been established throughout the Ninth District are making it
possible for our region's veterans to receive quality health care within their
communities with the cost of the care being borne by the Veterans
Administration.
Several
individuals deserve our thanks today, and I would like to take this opportunity
to recognize them.
I want to
express my appreciation to Charlene Ehret, Director of the VA Medical Center at
Johnson City,
who has assisted me in advocating for the placement of community-based clinics
in the region.
I'd also like
to thank John Dandridge, Director of the Mid-South Healthcare Network for his
support.
Dr. David
Reagan, Chief of Staff, and Dr. Peter Torok, Associate Chief of Staff for
Community Care, are to be commended for their commitment to providing high
quality health care to our nation's veterans.
I also want to
thank Laura Lee, my Deputy Chief of Staff, for her persistence in working with
the Veterans Administration toward the establishment of our community-based
outpatient clinics for veterans.
Finally, I
want to congratulate the veterans of this region who are benefitting from the
primary care services which are being offered in their communities. A debt of gratitude is owed by our nation to
all veterans. Once our armed forces have
completed their service, we have a responsibility to our veterans to ensure
that they have the best medical care in a convenient setting. Today, we dedicate this facility to those men
and women who have made great sacrifices and taken great risks in order to
preserve our nation's freedoms.
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