Posted on Feb 25, 2024
More vets could be headed to DOD medical sites to get VA health care
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Posted 9 mo ago
Responses: 3
This would be a real positive for out Brothers and Sisters in need who may be closer to a Military Facility that a VA center.
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You telling me that it's not happening? It's the norm here as treatment options are community care,VA and DOD. They have this triad of care which works. You do need to take all of your medical records with you as the VA at times doesn't send them when referred out to CC or to DOD.
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The headline might not be clear that this is not about veterans getting medical care from DOD medical facilities but just about VA medical staff using empty excess space in DOD medical facilities to treat veterans.
In my local area we went pretty much the opposite direction -- the VA had a couple of rooms in the basement of our Army Hospital for decades, then recently the VA built a building of their own just down the street from the Army Hospital.
Having a VA clinic located inside a DOD facility may provide a more convenient location for some veterans if the VA didn't have a clinic in their area before but there are some points that the article doesn't mention.
One minor issue will be access. Veterans are allowed to access most DOD installations, but the process for gaining entry can be time-consuming, especially for veterans who aren't retired military. Generally you will have to go through the visitor process, and if you expect to continue coming to the installation you should be able to get a long-term pass (usually good for a year at a time) to use your VA Medical ID for entry.
One paragraph in the article sounds like DOD medical personnel may be treating veterans. If so, that would be new and involve just specific sites. Normally a VA clinic in a DOD facility operates completely separately with the VA clinic treating only veterans and the DOD facility treating only people authorized DOD health care.
In my local area we went pretty much the opposite direction -- the VA had a couple of rooms in the basement of our Army Hospital for decades, then recently the VA built a building of their own just down the street from the Army Hospital.
Having a VA clinic located inside a DOD facility may provide a more convenient location for some veterans if the VA didn't have a clinic in their area before but there are some points that the article doesn't mention.
One minor issue will be access. Veterans are allowed to access most DOD installations, but the process for gaining entry can be time-consuming, especially for veterans who aren't retired military. Generally you will have to go through the visitor process, and if you expect to continue coming to the installation you should be able to get a long-term pass (usually good for a year at a time) to use your VA Medical ID for entry.
One paragraph in the article sounds like DOD medical personnel may be treating veterans. If so, that would be new and involve just specific sites. Normally a VA clinic in a DOD facility operates completely separately with the VA clinic treating only veterans and the DOD facility treating only people authorized DOD health care.
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SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL
MSG Thomas Currie thanks for the insight and great focus on DOD medical facilities/VA medical staff using empty excess space in DOD medical facilities to treat veterans. IMHO as long as it helps Veterans I am for it and spending the Tax payers dollars on quality health care for our disabled veterans is a win/win situation for all. Thanks for sharing.
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