Health Care Reaches Out To Veterans
Two new community outreach vehicles are travelling through Maine providing veterans with health care.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recently unveiled a fleet of 50 new outreach vehicles that travel to rural communities to meet with veterans. With many miles of backcountry, Maine was awarded two of the new vehicles, one based out of Caribou and the other out of Lewiston.
The 38-foot outreach vehicles carry Vet Center counselors and outreach workers to the remote areas of the state. The vehicles have space for confidential counseling, portable exam tables, locked storage, and refrigeration for medication. An electronic medical records system connects each vehicle with the VA Medical Center at Togus, a video system allows veterans to talk remotely to a psychiatrist for medication purposes, and each vehicle is handicap accessible.
Veterans who live in Maine have access to health care clinics in Augusta, Bangor, Calais, Caribou, Fort Kent, Houlton, Lewiston, Machias, Rumford, Lincoln, and Saco, but the commute from rural Maine can be long. Which is why the government elected to take the healthcare show on the road.
The VA awarded Maine a three-year federal grant of $600,000 per year for the operation of the mobile health clinic. The clinic provides primary care, mental health and lab services to veterans on a rotating basis in rural Maine. Overall, the mobile unit is expected to serve about 800 veterans annually. Equipped with a generator, shower, toilet, microwave, and satellite service, each vehicle can also be used during catastrophic events such as a flood or storm.
Currently, across the country, there are 271 Vet Centers that provide treatment for veterans. Now, however, veterans in rural areas will have access to health care without having to make a long trek to bigger towns and even bigger cities. A well deserved honor for those that served.
For more information on the mobile outreach health care program please visit: www.togus.va.gov/visitors/Mobile_Vet_Center.asp.
