U.S. Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) on Oct. 1 spotlighted his efforts to expand improved access to healthcare for America’s military veterans during an event at the Fargo Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Care System and a local hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) clinic.
Joining Sen. Hoeven during the event in Fargo, N.D. were VA Secretary Robert Wilkie and U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND).
“The staff of the Fargo VA work hard every day to ensure veterans can access the care they need, and we appreciate the opportunity to highlight their efforts to Secretary Wilkie,” Sen. Hoeven said. “We continue working to maintain the local VA’s record of success, including under the HBOT demonstration program we brought to this region.”
Among Sen. Hoeven’s efforts, according to his staff, are those to improve access to alternative treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), like HBOT; ensuring timely appointments for veterans with local healthcare providers under the Veteran Community Care (VCC) Program; and enabling more long-term care (LTC) providers to accept veteran patients.
“Our veterans deserve every opportunity to improve their health and well-being, and we want to make sure this program works well for those who have yet to benefit from treatment for PTSD,” said Sen. Hoeven.
For instance, Sen. Hoeven recently secured expansion of the VA’s HBOT clinical demonstration program to include the Fargo VA, which will make HBOT available to veterans in North Dakota and western Minnesota. The local VA is partnering with Healing with Hyperbarics of North Dakota, which Sen. Hoeven and Secretary Wilkie toured on Tuesday.
“We’ve continued to advance better access to health care and long-term care in veterans’ home communities, and today’s visit allowed us to further highlight the need for timely appointments with local providers and streamlined regulations for LTC facilities,” Sen. Hoeven said.
Moving forward, the senator told Wilkie he’s working with the Fargo VA and TriWest, a third-party administrator, to ensure veterans’ appointments with local providers are scheduled promptly via the VCC Program, and he will continue to help ensure that more Veterans Care Agreements enable more LTC providers to accept veteran patients.
Currently, only about 20 percent of North Dakota’s nursing homes contract with the VA, according to the senator’s office.