Wilmington VAMC and Rowan University Announce New Residency Program

PITTSBURGH — On July 10, the Wilmington Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) and the Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine officially announced a new residency program designed to improve the health care and well being of veterans in southern New Jersey.
Starting this month, 15 family practice and psychiatry residents will rotate through Wilmington VAMC’s outpatient clinics to learn and take care of veterans. This is the first time that the southern New Jersey clinics will serve as a training site for residents and medical students. The residents will work with and learn from VA doctors, nurses, social workers and pharmacists, embracing an opportunity to learn the unique health care challenges that veterans encounter.
This agreement enables the Wilmington VAMC to more fully participate in VA’s mission to train future providers, while enhancing the quality of care veterans receive. VA is the largest education and training system for health professionals in the nation. Through this new partnership with Rowan, the Wilmington VAMC will help to define the changing needs of the nation’s health care delivery system while also helping to ensure New Jersey graduate medical education resources are focused on the health care needs of veterans who live in New Jersey.
“This mission critical relationship with Rowan is yet another opportunity for us to enhance the health care of veterans in southern New Jersey,” stated Vince Kane, Wilmington VAMC director. “It really is a win-win for VA, veterans, and the University. It will immediately improve the care we provide to our veterans today, while also helping us recruit and retain the VA health care providers of the future. This new partnership with the University and Wilmington VAMC helps us to better honor our nation’s commitment to the men and women who have served our country.”
“For more than 40 years, our school has provided for the health care needs of area residents while training the next generation of New Jersey’s physicians,” stated Dr. Thomas Cavalieri, dean of the Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine. “We are both humbled and honored for the opportunity to partner with the Wilmington VAMC to support the health care needs of area Veterans who have served our country so selflessly.”
“This is a unique opportunity to recruit and train the next generation of health care students on the complexity of caring for our veterans,” stated U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-2nd). “This public-private partnership between VA and Rowan University will ensure South Jersey’s veterans directly benefit from South Jersey-based medical professionals, many of whom are born and raised in the region. I applaud the Wilmington VAMC’s new leadership for being aggressive in identifying new opportunities for bringing care to local veterans and its innovative approach for partnering with existing medical providers in South Jersey communities.”
The Wilmington VAMC consists of the medical facility located in Elsmere, Del., and five outpatient clinics located in Kent and Sussex counties in Delaware, and Atlantic, Cape May, Salem, and Cumberland Counties in southern New Jersey. Currently, Wilmington provides health care for more than 31,000 area veterans.
The medical center’s primary mission is to provide world-class health care to America’s veterans. If you are a veteran, you may be eligible to receive care and benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs. To learn about VA eligibility and enroll for care, please visit www.vets.gov