Veterans on the Gulf Coast as of this week will now have entry to same-day outpatient surgical care at a brand new Division of Veterans Affairs clinic positioned contained in the Naval Air Station Pensacola hospital, in keeping with the VA.
The VA and Protection Division got here collectively to launch the clinic, which can serve an estimated 37,000 folks. The collaboration comes because the VA says it continues to seek for methods to accommodate an growing variety of veterans, whereas additionally attempting to deal with its personal growing older well being care amenities and cost-cutting efforts.
“Partnering with the native DoD hospital will increase veteran entry to VA care, serving to us meet the wants of the rising variety of veterans in our space who entrust VA with their well being care,” Stephanie Repasky, director of the Gulf Coast Veterans Well being Care System, stated in a press launch.
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The VA stated in August it enrolled 113,719 veterans in its well being care in the course of the first yr of the landmark PACT Act, which expands take care of diseases associated to burn pits, Agent Orange and publicity to different poisonous substances.
In the meantime, the division requested a report $4.1 billion earlier this yr for building to replace growing older hospitals, some greater than 100 years previous.
Till now, veterans on the Gulf Coast who wanted surgical procedure both noticed group suppliers or needed to journey to Mississippi’s Biloxi VA Medical Middle, a two-hour drive for sufferers primarily based in Pensacola.
The VA has already begun scheduling surgical procedures for sufferers in Pensacola. Surgical care on the facility will embrace orthopedics; podiatry; ophthalmology; urology; and ear, nostril and throat.
“This partnership will assist VA present extra care, extra shortly, to extra Gulf Coast veterans — as near their properties as potential,” VA Beneath Secretary for Well being Dr. Shereef Elnahal stated within the launch. “Establishing partnerships like that is an environment friendly and infrequently cost-effective methodology for VA to extend veteran entry to care, whereas serving to to modernize the veteran well being care expertise.”
Sufferers will not need to reschedule their appointments, however their scheduled surgical procedures will routinely be rescheduled on the new location, in keeping with the VA’s press launch. Sufferers can guarantee their contact data is updated for schedule modifications on the VA’s appointment administration web site.
The same collaboration was not too long ago introduced in Oklahoma, the place the Cherokee Nation and Japanese Oklahoma VA system agreed to offer a VA clinic contained in the Cherokee-run Vinita Well being Middle.
The Vinita outpatient clinic, which is predicted to open across the new yr, will not embrace surgical procedure, however Native and non-Native veterans could have entry to main well being care.
Beneath the PACT Act, which expanded public-private partnerships, the VA additionally reached agreements this yr with Stanford College for a brand new most cancers analysis middle, and Penn Medication to modernize Pennsylvania’s VA infrastructure and enhance scientific partnerships.
— Kelsey Baker is a graduate pupil at Northwestern’s Medill College of Journalism, and a former active-duty Marine. Attain her on X at @KelsBBaker or bakerkelsey@protonmail.com.
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