Efforts to alleviate long travel and wait times and appointment backlogs faced by military veterans at the VA Medical Center in East Orange have taken a small step forward with the approval of an alternate hospital site in Paramus where they can now receive care, but it may be awhile before a similar local alternative is offered in the Sussex/Warren county region.

The latest development, announced Friday by U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-5th Dist., follows the June 2018 passage of federal legislation known as the VA MISSION Act. The law whose name is an acronym for "Maintaining Internal Systems and Strengthening Outside Networks" established a Community Care program intended to allow eligible veterans to receive care from non-VA facilities within their own communities.

At an October meeting with Vincent Immiti, director of the New Jersey Health Care System for the Department of Veterans Affairs, the congressman discussed issues faced by veterans seeking care at the VA hospital in East Orange including appointment delays of 30 days or more as well as frequent and abrupt appointment cancellations, often with little or no advance notice or explanation.

At the time, the congressman secured a commitment from Immiti to expedite the designation of Bergen New Bridge Medical Center in Paramus as a VA-approved community care provider so it, too, could begin accepting patient referrals for eligible veterans. According to Friday's announcement, covered veterans may now specify an eligible non-VA facility from which they would like to receive care, so long as the care is clinically necessary and not feasibly available through another VA facility.

"I've heard from veterans across the Fifth District who have had to drive over an hour, only to be met by long wait times and canceled appointments," said Gottheimer, who touted the fact that veterans in Bergen County would now have access to an alternate facility closer to home.

However, given the drive time of over an hour from most of Sussex and Warren counties to get to Paramus, it is not yet clear how much this announcement will help the veterans of northwest New Jersey.

Gottheimer previously had said he hoped to enable additional healthcare referrals to be made through Newton Medical Center and other local facilities, but so far it hasn't happened. With representatives of Newton Medical Center unavailable for comment Monday because of the Presidents' Day holiday, it could not immediately be determined how much progress, if any, has taken place on that front.

John Harrigan, president of Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 1002 in Vernon, said in a phone conversation Monday that he would love it if veterans could access more healthcare services locally. "It would be great if somebody could work with the VA and do that," he said.

Currently, veterans have access to a VA outpatient clinic in Newton that operates mostly by appointment from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. In addition to offering specialty referrals, the facility offers primary care and prescription services along with limited psychiatric and mental health services. For veterans like Harrigan who reside in northern Sussex County, an additional VA outpatient clinic also is located in Port Jervis, N.Y.

Harrigan said veterans can also receive basic, primary and prescription drug services on a walk-in basis at a CVS Minute Clinic in Sparta. Still, he said, being able to obtain specialty care at a local hospital or other facility would be of immeasurable value to veterans, particularly those with limited transportation options.

Gottheimer has said previously that he would like to see that become a reality for veterans from Sussex and Warren counties as well as those residing in Bergen County. We must always have the backs of those who have had ours, the brave men and women who have served our nation and defended our freedoms, he said.

Eric Obernauer can also be contacted on Twitter: @EricObernNJH or by phone at 973-383-1213.

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Efforts to expand veterans health care options continue - New Jersey Herald