New VA Clinics Bring Healthcare Closer to Home
By ANNETTE NEVINS
It all started with a conversation about going to the doctor.
Military veterans gathering for monthly meetings began talking about problems getting to and from appointments.
Traffic is getting worse as Bell County grows, they say. Some have to take a full day off work or take multiple buses to travel to and from some of the only veteran health facilities located more than 30 minutes away in Temple.
“The VA hospital campus area there is a huge complex and parking is an ordeal,” says Pat Christ, a retired Army veteran who lives in Harker Heights. “A lot of veterans are older who move slowly and need assistance. So it’s difficult.”
Their call for help is being met with some hope.
Veterans may soon find healthcare closer to home at two new planned clinics, one in Killeen and another in Copperas Cove. Exact locations are not known yet. But to address growth, the Central Texas Veterans Health Care System announced that solicitations for bids are being developed for a contractor to provide primary care services for up to 7,200 Veterans at each location.
“It’s good to know we are being heard and that someone cares,” says Lawrence “Mac” McCullar, a retired Army command sergeant major who serves as chairman of the Area Veterans Advisory Committee of Central Texas.
He says the new clinics also should relieve crowds and waits at the Olin E. Teague Veterans’ Medical Center and the surrounding health service offices.
Some of the veterans’ conversations started in meetings attended by area leaders.
One veteran says failing eyesight makes it difficult to travel too far from his neighborhood. A mother says childcare is difficult to find for what sometimes turns into a day filled with driving, crowded waiting rooms, lab work, exams … and more driving.
“It shouldn’t be so hard for veterans to get the help they need,” says McCullar, pointing out that many disabled veterans served in Vietnam or Korea.
U.S. Rep. John Carter, R-Round Rock, and U.S. Rep. Roger Williams, R-Austin, who represent a growing number of veterans in western Bell County, met this summer at American Legion Post #573 in Harker Heights to announce the new clinics.
“Our veterans have sacrificed so much for our great country and they deserve to be taken care of now that they are home,” Williams said in a statement.
More than 37,000 veterans who are currently registered with the VA live near Fort Hood in the Killeen and Copperas Cove area as well as areas adjacent to and west of Bell County.
“We promised our veterans accessible, quality healthcare and these clinics will help deliver on that promise,” Carter says.
Each of the two locations will have six Patient Aligned Care Teams composed of a physician, RN, LVN, social worker and a medical support assistant who will help with primary care, mental health, social work, dietetics and lab draws.
Michael Kiefer, director and CEO of CTVHCS, says Central Texas has been working to expand services to this area for several years to provide easier access to veterans.
“So I am elated that these clinics are now becoming a reality,” he told a gathering of veterans during the recent announcement of the centers.
McCullar says he is now on a mission to let veterans know that help is on the way.
“Old veterans especially are not big on technology and Googling for information online,” he says. “But word is spreading quickly. Excitement is in the air.”
Veterans’ Healthcare by the Numbers
- 55,000 veterans reside in Bell County
- 37,000 Killeen and Copperas Cove area veterans are registered for care at the VA
- 30 miles, 30-plus minutes each way is the current average commute to see a doc
- 7,200 veterans will be provided treatment at the Killeen clinic and 7,200 veterans will be provided treatment at the Copperas Cove clinic (primary care, mental health, social work, dietetics and lab draws)
- 6 Patient Aligned Care Teams each at the Killeen and Copperas Cove clinics (PACTs include a doctor, RN, LVN, social worker and medical support assistant)
— Central Texas Veterans Health Care System
