Veterans attend West Texas VA town hall

Military Veterans from every service gathered to receive updates on West Texas VA and to provide feedback to leaders at a town hall held in San Angelo, Texas.

"I'm glad they took time out to do this for Veterans," said Navy Veteran Terry Cook. "Veterans can have a lot of things happen to them during their health care, so knowing and understanding the new services available to folks from VA really lets people identify and treat things early."

Cook, 69, from San Angelo, Texas, was diagnosed with cancer during his health care journey. He credits a lot of the health care providers and consults VA conducted that made him aware how to navigate the process to receive care through the VA system.

"It's a two-way street. You have to be involved in your health care so you have to get information from the source to better understand how to take care of yourself. Not all Veterans could attend, so I came to this meeting to gather the right information to push out to the community," Cook said.

Veterans were informed on new VA changes and initiatives, such as updates to the PACT ACT, the new 24/7 VA nurse triage line and new medical services being offered within the San Angelo Community Based Outpatient Clinic.

"The 24/7 VA Nurse Line is great," said Tyndall Light, nurse manager from the San Angelo Community Based Outpatient Clinic. "If you call the Clinical Call Center, all your VA health history is available to the nurse on the line so they can make better health decision for your care. This keeps the care within VA and, depending on the type of symptoms, you can be connected to a licensed independent practitioner on the phone."

Veterans spoke up about various individual challenges, such as eligibility concerns and transportation issues, which were addressed by experts, homing in on the main purpose of the event: Veteran care.

"Veterans are at the center of everything we do," Bass added. "We hold these town halls so we can engage with and receive first-hand feedback from our Veterans. No question is off limits, and we want folks here to walk away with all questions answered."