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A PLACE TO HEAL -- Pueblo VA clinic has

seen caseload swell over decade.

 

 

Story here... http://www.chieftain.com/
metro/1174802526/1

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A place to heal

Pueblo VA clinic has seen caseload swell over decade

By PETER ROPER
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

The scandal over dilapidated housing and the neglect of some wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center rippled through the Department of Veterans Affairs earlier this month when veterans groups urged Congress to review the conditions and care in VA facilities as well.

Veterans Secretary Jim Nicholson responded with a memo to all VA care centers, asking them to review their operations and how well they serve the 43 million veterans in the nation.

In Pueblo, veterans' medical care is based in the Community-Based Outreach Clinic at 4112 Outlook Blvd., and the busy clinic occupies two floors of the modern Centura Health building. With a caseload of more than 6,000 patients - some drive in from as far as Kansas - the clinic has grown over the past decade from being a mental-health program to a full-blown primary care facility, complete with a pharmacy, dental office, optometry office, laboratory and behavioral science clinic.

Robin Moritz, the clinic manager, has been with the VA for more than 30 years and moved to Pueblo when the VA closed the Fort Lyon VA hospital near Las Animas in 1997.

"We started the Pueblo clinic with 237 patients who were receiving mental health services," Moritz recalled.

Time and war have pushed the Pueblo clinic to grow. Among the 6,244 patients who use the clinic today are 335 veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, including 52 women veterans of those campaigns.

"That's one of the fundamental changes we've seen in the VA - the increasing number of women veterans," she said. "The VA used to be a male-dominated environment, but that has changed as more women have gone into the military."

Moritz said the Pueblo clinic treated 1,039 women veterans last year.

And VA services have had to change to accommodate that new reality. For example, the mental health program in Pueblo now includes treatment for women veterans who have also been the victims of sexual assault. That's a problem that appears to be growing because Pentagon officials announced last week the number of women military personnel who reported being sexually assaulted increased by about 25 percent in 2006.

Dr. Jennine Lambert, associate chief of staff for the clinic, said other recent changes in the caseload are the growing number of brain-injured veterans being cared for, a direct result of the roadside bombs that have killed so many U.S. personnel in Iraq.

When the first Pueblo clinic opened in 1997, in a small suite of offices, it contracted out basic medical care through the Pueblo Community Health Center. No more. Today the clinic has three full-time primary care physicians, assisted by three nurse practitioners, and two nurses. The mental health program has two full-time and one part-time psychiatrist, plus five social workers, according to Moritz.

In addition, there are two dentists, a podiatrist and five pharmacists staffing the clinic.

"We see about 90 patients a day, five days a week," Moritz said of the primary care clinic. Of the clinic's caseload, about 25 percent of the patients also receive mental health services, she said.

Pueblo County has two officers to work with area veterans in getting services and benefits. In a recent interview, they reported the most common complaint is the time it can take to get appointments.

Lambert said the VA has a policy of setting appointments within 30 days of a request to be seen. Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are treated on an expedited basis, she said.

The VA system in Eastern Colorado is built around its main hospital in Denver. In Southern Colorado, there are clinics in Pueblo, La Junta, Lamar and Alamosa. Veterans are referred to the Denver hospital for surgery and treatments that can't be performed in a smaller clinic. Lambert said that she believed the system moved efficiently because the VA system is self-contained - the doctors, specialists and staff all work for the VA.

"One of the reasons I enjoy working for the VA is I don't have to negotiate with any insurance companies about what procedures I can order for a patient," she said.

The single biggest complaint among veterans nationally is the time it can take to get a ruling from the VA on a disability claim. Getting a disability decision can take up to a year, and an appeal of a decision can take several years. The Pueblo clinic, like all regional clinics, is not involved in making that evaluation, Moritz said.

Veterans are eligible for care for any service-related disability and general medical care is also provided as well, based on a veteran's finances and the availability of other insurance coverage. Moritz said any veteran wondering about their eligibility should contact the VA administration or the clinic. The only paperwork they need is a copy of their DD214 form, which spells out their time in service.

"We have veterans walk in all the time who didn't know they were eligible for care," she said, noting that one elderly World War II veteran recently came to the clinic for information about benefits.

"This fellow said it took him a long time to realize that one reason he might have lost some of his hearing is because he was in an artillery battery in World War II," she said.

 

Veterans Health Care in Southern Colorado

Bruce McCandless Colorado State Veterans Nursing Home

903 Moore Drive, Florence Number of clients: Inpatient 105, no outpatients Budget: $9 million Notes: The nursing home does provide its residents with direct transportation to VA clinics or any private care medical appointment.

Colorado State Veteran's Nursing Home

23500 Colorado 160, Walsenburg Current residents: Inpatient 108, no outpatients Number of beds: 118 Current budget: $8.3 million Notes: All resident care is on site and includes a special care unit for dementia, Alzheimer's, Huntington's and Parkinson's disease. The center offers on-site hemodialysis. The nursing home is attached to the Spanish Peaks Regional Health Center.

Colorado State Veterans Center

Homelake, Monte Vista Number of clients: 53 nursing home residents; 42 assisted living residents Budget: $4.5 million Notes: Homelake provides skilled nursing care for long-term care and domiciliary (assisted living) care. No VA clinic on premises; must transport patients to Alamosa or Denver.

Four outpatient clinics fall under the umbrella of the VA’s Eastern Colorado Healthcare System:

Overall budget: $299 million
Community-Based Outpatient Clinic, 622 Del Sol Drive, Alamosa Number of clients: 1,522 outpatients
VA Clinic, 1100 Carson Ave., Suite 104, La Junta Number of clients: 1,231 outpatients
VA Clinic, 201 Kendall Drive, Lamar Number of clients: 574 outpatients
VA Clinic, 4112 Outlook Blvd., Pueblo Number of clients: 6,244
Pueblo Nursing Home Unit, 2600 Oakshire Lane Number of beds: 40

Source: Veterans Administration

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Larry Scott  --