VA Clinic long term goal; shorter term solutions presented to veterans
Over 100 Dubois County veterans gathered at the Jasper VFW Post 673 to hear a presentation and provide input for solutions to veteran care in this area of Indiana.
Robert Johnson (retired U.S. Navy), Dubois County’s veterans service officer, and Dave Englert (retired U.S. Marine Corps), chief of staff of the Indiana division of the Marine Corps League, initiated a push to open a Community-Based Outpatient Clinic in Dubois County.
The two scheduled a meeting with local government leaders, the representatives of the three regions of the Department of Veterans Affairs that handle Indiana veterans’ affairs, representatives for Congressman Larry Bucshon and Congressman Todd Young, and other representatives for local veterans organizations that was held Tuesday morning at the Huntingburg Event Center to discuss the clinic initiative.
Englert and Johnson presented a slideshow detailing the need in Dubois County and surrounding counties for the outpatient clinic. Besides the benefit for the nearly 13,000 veterans a clinic in Dubois County in regards to reducing 2-3 hours of travel time for medical care (even minor visits for procedures like blood tests), the clinic would also assist in keeping these veterans on a lower cost health care plan provided through the VA. Tricare Prime is a managed care option through Humana offering the most affordable and comprehensive coverage available for veterans near military treatment facilities and VA clinics.
“Military retirees are eligible for Tricare Prime currently, but as of October 1st, since we are further than 40 miles away from a military treatment facility, which is your primary treatment manager, retirees no longer have the option of Tricare Prime,” Englert said.
Veterans will be forced to use Tricare Standard or Tricare extra which have considerably higher co-pays, cost shares and out of pocket expenses.
A local clinic will also increase the use of preventative health care and thus increase the quality of life for many veterans from the Vietnam War, Desert Storm and the current conflicts.
Englert was enthusiastic with the response from those who attended the meeting in Huntingburg on Tuesday. Not only were they supportive of their efforts towards a clinic, in the meantime they initiated efforts towards better communications between the clinics located in the three regions.
Common complaints from local veterans included referrals to the Marion VA Hospital from the Evansville location. The Marion, IL hospital is two and a half hours away from Dubois County compared to the Louisville Veterans Hospital which is only an hour and a half away. Englert informed the veterans at the meeting that communications between the various clinics and hospitals would be a problem the regions would work to correct in the future.
Another suggestion made through the meeting was the potential for Veterans Affairs to create and fill a nurse practitioner position in the county. A nurse practitioner works under a doctor and can complete all standard office procedures even minor surgeries.
A nurse practitioner would alleviate the need for a large amount of travel for minor procedures for many local veterans. “A nurse practitioner could cut our driving by 30 percent,” Allen Bromm, President of Dubois County Veterans, said. “Maybe more.”
Joe Wagner, a Navy Corpsman who served during the Korean War, was the county veterans service officer after his service in the military ended. He also drove the DVA van for veterans for many years until he was no longer able to due to medical issues.
“A nurse practitioner could get the ball rolling,” Wagner said. “It would be good to assist the veterans here in the nursing homes and assist the veterans before they have to go to a VA hospital.”
Englert said this is a longer term solution and was only a suggestion but if the group could find a way to provide the office at no cost to the VA it could move the process along.
According to the Indiana Office of Veterans Affairs only 23 percent of Dubois County veterans eligible for benefits are enrolled in the program. This is another factor holding up the approval of a clinic in Dubois County. To increase enrollment, the Indiana Office of Veterans Affairs is providing better training for veteran service offices and providing better overall service for veterans.
Russ Eaglin, a veteran of the Marine Corps and the deputy director of the Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs, explained Governor Mike Pence’s push to increase Indiana’s support of its veterans. “Indiana is fourth in the amount of citizens who join the services among all the states,” Eaglin said, “but we are 46th or 48th in the amount of compensation we provide for Indiana veterans. That makes me angry.”
Another thing angering Eaglin is the high number of young veterans without jobs in Indiana. A new feature of the Office of the Veterans Affairs website is a job connector for veterans. “It was just launched on Monday,” he explained. “While Lt. Governor Sue Ellspermann is visiting all the counties through the Department of Veterans Affairs has a person travelling with her who finds employers for our veterans.”
Another problem brought out in the meeting was the need to educate or inform younger veterans who are currently exiting the military or have recently. “For whatever reason, veterans aren’t taking advantage of the benefits provided by their service,” Johnson said. “They aren’t filing the paperwork with the clinics because of the time involved and the distance which supports a local clinic.”
Johnson was unable to provide the number of those veterans in the area currently. “The VA won’t share those numbers,” he explained.
According to Englert they are looking at a minimum of five years to complete a clinic in Dubois County but they still need to drum up local support to push the project forward. Ultimately, the decision to build or place a clinic in Dubois County is up to the Department of Veterans Affairs, so to push the clinic forward, Englert and Johnson are imploring veterans to write their congressional representatives and the governor.
To assist in the process local veterans are encouraged to contact the veterans service officer Robert Johnson at (812) 481-7090. His office is located at the Courthouse Annex Building, 602 Main Street. Jasper, and his email is rfjohnson@duboiscountyin.org.
