Fargo VA Working to Stay on Top of Veteran Health Care

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Local veterans with questions or concerns got their answers at today’s townhall meeting.

KVRR’s Sarah Brechbill joins us to tell us more.
 
TJ and Allison, when it comes to getting health care for veterans, the system can be tricky and long.

But there is good news for veterans here in Fargo…as wait times to get health care are much lower than the rest of the country.
 
In a report released by CNN, 307 thousand veterans have died waiting for health care.

But here in Fargo that’s not the case.
 
“I’ve been coming to the Fargo VA for about seven years and they’ve been real good with my claims process and my medical care I’ve received there, I haven’t had any concerns myself personally. I know there are stories out there from different areas of the country and stuff but Fargo VA has been pretty good,” says Veteran Brad Aune.
 
The move to processing claims electronically has also helped.
Previously, hospitals across the country had to process more than 5,000 tons of paper…slowing down every step of the process.
 
“If a veteran had a claim pending with us an appeal before the board of veterans in Washington DC, one of those had to wait while the other decision is being made because there was only one paper record. So we made it that we can process multiple claims in multiple locations at the same time,” says Veterans Service Center Manger, Paula Heitmann.

“Unlike the rest of the country, Fargo has the staff to process its veteran’s claims quickly and because of that they’re getting claims from across the nation to make sure other veterans are getting care.”
 
And once the benefits are claimed, waiting for health care is a whole other obstacle…exactly why the government program, CHOICE, was established.
 
“The choice program was created by Congress to get veterans seen quicker and closer to home. The VA does not have the capacity, we want them to be seen in the community and get them seen in a timely fashion, that’s our goal. It has not gone as smoothly as we like but we are working with the veteran and working with CHOICE to improve the process. And we are getting better but we got a long way to go,” says Fargo VA Healthcare System Director Dale Dekrey.

And while veterans here aren’t waiting as long for care, the VA in Fargo still wants to hear from local vets on how to improve.

Townhall meetings are held quarterly, and across the state.

The next location has not yet been released.

Reporting live Sarah Brechbill KVRR News.