ATLANTA - More than 50 veterans had the unique opportunity to ask questions and voice their concerns at the Atlanta VA Medical Center’s monthly Veteran Town Hall Saturday, March 28, 2015.
On hand at the town hall were Leslie Wiggins, director of the Atlanta VA Medical Center, and Bryan Starke, assistant veterans service center manager at the Veterans Benefits Administration’s Atlanta Regional Office. While the focus of the town hall was to disseminate information regarding dental care, various transportation options, and travel claims—both Wiggins and Starke responded to many questions and concerns asked by veterans in attendance and submitted via Social Media.
Following a video underscoring VA’s commitment and dedication to veterans, Wiggins explained not just how the medical center’s patient visits have increased dramatically over the past half-decade, but what’s being done to keep up with the demand. “The [Atlanta VAMC] has seen a 73 percent increase in patient visits from FY07 to FY14,” said Wiggins.
“We used to provide service between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.,” said Wiggins. “We understand those hours aren’t convenient for everyone,” said Wiggins. The medical center, along with many of its 14 sites of care, now have expanded clinic hours into evenings and Saturdays, created additional patient appointments, and hired additional direct patient care providers.
To keep up with growth, Wiggins also pointed out a number of ongoing expansion projects aimed at increasing Veterans’ access to care—to include the new Atlanta VA Clinic, which features more than 83,000 square feet. The clinic, which is on the old DeVry University campus near DeKalb Medical Center, currently accommodates services for primary care and laboratory, but will soon be provide women’s wellness, mental health, pain management, dental and other services in high demand.
Starke’s regional office has put a great deal of effort towards reducing the backlog of appellate cases over the past 12 months and has managed to drastically reduce the amount of year-old claims. “This time last year we had over 6,000 year-old claims—this year we have 600,” said Starke, who’s partnered with the medical center at veteran town halls for the past three months.
Topics of interest were Veteran benefit eligibility, denial of certain claims, and the VA’s newly expanded Veterans Choice Program. Starke noted the VBA Atlanta Regional Office is hiring an additional 23 employees to work on the appellate workload. “Ninety-nine percent of our records are electronic, so we have access. Our team can look up and determine why a vet’s claim may have been denied,” said Starke, who brought a team of five adjudicators to serve those veterans who requested one-on-one benefits assistance.
Not everyone attended the town hall to voice concerns. Michael Cox, a disabled platoon sergeant who served with the U.S. Army in Operation Iraqi Freedom, simply wanted to say thanks. “The VA saved my life and gave me hope,” said Cox. “[VA] allowed me to be part of society and continue to serve my nation and other veterans.”
The Atlanta VA Medical Center will host the next Veteran Town Hall April 25, 2015.
| Date Taken: | 03.28.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 04.07.2015 09:15 |
| Story ID: | 159284 |
| Location: | ATLANTA, GA, US |
| Web Views: | 51 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Veterans receive information on healthcare services, benefits at monthly Town Hall, by Eric Brown, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
LEAVE A COMMENT