Allen County residents may find being part of and receiving Veterans Affairs benefits to be a hassle, but representatives are working to bridge that gap.
Saturday morning Alfred Link, retired National Guard sergeant major and a leader on the Iola Veterans Committee, held a retired military meeting at the B&B Country Cafe. The meeting outlined veterans’ needs in rural areas.
Outside the cafe was a parked VA mobile center, where retired veterans could sign up with the VA and apply for benefits.
Link’s guests at the meeting were Laurie Pfeiffer, Department of Veterans Affairs registered nurse for women’s health and director of rural health, Andy Thompson and John Henshall, with Mobile Vet Center, and Victoria Audley, RN MN health promotion and disease prevention program manager and Myhealthevet coordinator.
Audley, an Iola High graduate and Link’s cousin, encourages veterans to use the Myhealthevet website because the site makes applying for VA benefits easier, she said.
Through the site veterans can get prescription refills, store all medical records, get VA wellness reminders and other interactive benefits with doctors.
In addition to better acquainting veterans with the health program the speakers also briefly discussed the benefits of being part of the VA.
“Every vet should look into and apply to the VA,” Pfeiffer said. “The VA is an aggressive program trying to help veterans.”
Veterans might be afraid that they have waited too long to get signed up, but Audley assured, “It is never too late” to join.
The other worry is the remote location of Allen County residents. Mobile Vet Centers travel to rural areas to bring VA services to people who cannot get to a major city like Kansas City or Wichita.
“We are trying to bridge a gap to your community,” Henshall said. “We would like to keep coming down to this area.”
MOBILE VET Centers are not the only way veterans can be in contact with the VA. There are programs now called telemedicine where patients may get connected with a doctor through video interaction. So people who cannot make it to a major city to see a physician on a regular basis may do it from an outreach center in a rural area.
Allen County currently does not have an outreach center but Mobile Vet Centers bring those services to rural areas, Henshall said.
In addition to serving veterans, the mobile centers also work with the families and couples who have been affected by a soldier’s work with the military. “We want to make that transition back as smooth as possible” for everyone, Henshall said.
On the fourth Tuesday of every month a service representative travels to the county courthouse in Iola, and there veterans may utilize the services the representative provide, such as filling out paperwork or just answering basic questions.
