SOUTHERN NEW JERSEY — The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is pleased to announce that care for southern New Jersey area Veterans in the community is expanding.
The Choice program was created in 2014 to provide community care to Veterans when VA services were not available or timely, and to prevent Veterans from having to travel long distances to VA facilities. The Choice Program is managed by a third party administrator under a national contract. Earlier this year, local VA facilities were given the ability to establish local provider agreements with private health care organizations. VA is then able to schedule services on its own when the Choice third party administrators are unable to schedule for services or the needed services are not covered in the national contract.
Currently, the Wilmington VA has established 36 agreements with community-based providers in the southern New Jersey area. An additional six agreements are being finalized to further expand care options for Veterans closer to their communities. Examples of current active partners include Comforcare Senior Services, Advanced Physical Therapy of South Jersey, Tao Integrative Acupuncture, Shore Memorial Hospital, Millville Chiropractic Center, and Center for Diagnostic Imaging.
The demand for psychiatric services everywhere has never been greater, both among Veterans and in the private sector. During a meeting of the Citizens Veterans Advisory Council in Cape May, the chief executive officer of the Cape May Counseling Services reached out to VA officials to establish a partnership and care for Veterans in the area.
Strategic partnerships with community Veterans organizations and private sector health care providers are vital to accomplishing the Veterans Health Administration’s mission to “Honor America’s Veterans by providing exceptional health care that improves their health and well-being.”
“With a renewed purpose, VA is working hard to seek out, establish and expand a robust community network of providers to improve care for Veterans,” said Robert Callahan, acting director of the Wilmington VA Medical Center. “Not all services can be available in every location. VA can’t do this alone; it takes an entire community working together.”
