CREST HAVEN — A small group of armed forces veterans met Wed., May 4 for the first time in Cape May County with top officials of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Wilmington Healthcare System. Veterans and officials agreed the session was beneficial, and it was expected that others would follow at regular intervals.
“We want to reach out to as many veterans as possible,” said Freeholder Gerald Thornton. He added he was “happy the VA came here…and for listening to us in the southern part” of the state.
The meeting, arranged by Thornton and Virginia Tomlin, director, county Veteran’s Bureau, evolved in response to a freeholder resolution and news stories in March. The substance of those was that VA was deemed not adequately responding to needs of South Jersey veterans, especially those needing dialysis, when Shore Memorial Hospital sought to become a VA-approved site for treatment. Subsequently, it was announced that a dialysis center in Cape May County would be allowed, if a veteran could not travel to Wilmington for dialysis.
Representing VA was Michael Moreland, Veterans Integrated Service Network director, Department of Veterans Affairs. He oversees 10 VA medical centers, 44 community-based clinics, including one at the Cape May Coast Guard Training Center, and nine nursing homes.
On behalf of the Wilmington VA hospital, Director Charles M. Dorman and Public Affairs Officer Charles R. Quesenberry took time to answer questions veterans asked about VA and what it offers in the way of medical services.
Representing U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-2nd) was Philip J. Uecker, veterans’ liaison from the Mays Landing office.
On display in the Freeholders Meeting Room at the county Administration Building were renderings of the planned 11,100-square-foot Northfield VA Outpatient Clinic that will offer a new range of medical services later this year.
“Hopefully, this will be the beginning of many communications, and an opportunity to meet with South Jersey veterans and their concerns about issues and ways we can help make healthcare more accessible, and for you to learn more about what we do,” said Dorman.
From the outset, the VA officials made it clear they wanted to hear veterans’ concerns.
“How would you like tonight to go?” asked Dorman. “Throw it out to us. What are you interested in hearing about?” he continued. Veterans asked and received answers.
Moreland said VA was “Pushing hard to increase the kind of services and size of service in the community.” For that reason, he noted, outpatient clinics in South Jersey, such as in Cape May and Vineland, used to be open one or two days a week, with a physician every few days.
At present, those primary care clinics, some with eye, dental and dermatology specialists, are open five days a week with physicians, nurses and staff there daily.
“Tele-help” is a new concept at VA, which has expanded in three and a half years. A veteran can go to a clinic, for example, and have a photograph taken of a potential skin cancer. That image is sent to Philadelphia or Baltimore for analysis, and the dermatologist can confer with the patient at the local clinic, eliminating the need for travel unless treatment is needed at one of the metropolitan VA hospitals.
When the 2,819-square-foot Ventnor outpatient clinic relocates to Northfield, expanded services will be offered, including women’s health, psychiatric care and some surgical procedures.
Use of other technology helps veterans in their homes linking them directly to VA physicians, Moreland said. The thrust, he said, is to keep the veteran as close to home as possible while providing the best treatment available.
“We are very committed to South Jersey,” Moreland told the veterans.
As VA treats more outpatients closer to their homes, space in facilities such as Wilmington that formerly had more beds can be renovated into dialysis and urology units and ophthalmology and optometry units to serve more patients, Moreland said.
One veteran told Moreland, “The coverage I get in the VA hospital is outstanding, however, there are major gaps that need to be looked at. We veterans do get sick at night and on weekends.” He went on to say that going to a local emergency room made sense, but VA looked on it as “uncompensated care,” and thought a “fee-basis arrangement” would be beneficial.
“If you let us know, we can work with a hospital, and notify an insurer withini 24 hours. If the veteran is going into an ER, we can try to follow up,” said Dorman.
Veterans who are enrolled in VA, and are deemed “eligible” for care, “Can go to their community hospital if they are having a heart attack of cut their leg with an ax,” Moreland said.
“Enroll,” Moreland urged. He asked each one present to ensure the message gets told, especially to veterans of the Iraqi and Afghanistan conflicts, “There is a five-year eligibility after discharge to automatically enroll and be eligible for care five years post discharge.
He estimated 56 percent of those veterans are enrolled, but, “That means 34 percent are not. Help us get the word out.”
Eligibility for such treatment hinges on injury or service-connected disability.
For Vietnam-era veterans, that can mean Agent Orange exposure or, to World War II or Korean War vets, exposure to radiation.
Income level is “about $35,000 with no dependents and not have a dishonorable discharge.”
Since changes to qualifications are often made, Moreland urged any veteran to begin the enrollment process, first by contacting VA or the County Veterans Bureau in the Social Services Building, Rio Grande.
He recalled one veteran who had a good job and income whose spouse became ill, their income was drained, and soon, the veteran was deemed eligible for treatment.
“Once a year, check and see if anything has changed,” Moreland urged.
“We’ve got to make sure veterans are enrolled, then, if something happens, they can switch over, and we will take care of them.”
Weary of dealing with “mythology,” Moreland urged veterans who experience something they believe is not right to “write down names, phone numbers, and call one of us. I can help people, I cannot help mythology.”
Nine veterans’ enrollment clinics have been held under supervision of Rep. LoBiondo’s office, the most recent on April 29.
Enrollment is also possible on-line at the VA’s website or at the county Veterans Bureau (609) 886-2762.***
CREST HAVEN — Veterans who met May 4 with top officials from U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Wilmington Healthcare System at the county Administration Building, asked the following:
Q: I missed enrollment (April 29) what is the process for enrollment?
A: You can download forms directly from VA website. Visit Cape May County Veterans Bureau (Social Serv-ices Building, Rio Grande, 609-886-2762) or contact VA Wilmington Clinic 302-994-2511. An important document to present is DD-214, which validates military service.
Q: What does VA offer female veterans?
A: VA is very much committed to female veterans. In the past they accounted for 3 percent, but today account for 12 percent. There are 2,700 females in the local system. The new Northfield Outpatient Clinic will have a special women’s health clinic designed around the needs of female veterans, the first layout of its kind in South Jersey. There will also be a full-time women’s VA coordinator.
Q: Talk about drugs VA covers. I was denied a couple of times.
A: The issue is about “science of the drug.” VA uses a panel of doctors, not administrators. Those doctors look at all the research available, and they decide which medicines are most effective. If we find two pills are effec-tive, one costs a nickel and the other $2, if they are just as good, we will use the nickel one, but the physicians make the decision. Sometimes a veteran will believe a drug may be helpful which his or her doctor will feel dif-ferently. There is an appeal process should a veteran believe drug that could be helpful is being denied.
Q: I’m under the impression that VA uses only generic drugs.
A: Typically, a doctor will try the least expensive drug first. If it does not work, they will go to the higher-class drug. They will find what works for you. If all the first-line meds don’t work, we will find what works for you. Remember, generic drugs become generic when a patent runs out, but they are chemically identical.
Q: I subscribe to VA e-mail, how will I be able to know if you organize something like this (evening meeting with VA representatives)?
A: VA Wilmington has a Facebook page where information is placed. Wilmington VA has an RSS feed. Every time something is updated, veterans can get an automatic update. 350 to date have signed up for the free service.Contact Campbell at (609) 886-8600 Ext 28 or at: al.c@cmcherald.com
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