(KNSI) – The Veterans Affairs Health Care System in St. Cloud had a visitor from the President’s Cabinet.
The St. Cloud VA was his first stop in Minnesota.
United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough was at the St. Cloud VA on Thursday as part of his tour of VA facilities across the nation.
“Do you know what the rest of that country and the rest of healthcare can replicate from VA and can replicate from this facility? It is that focus on the veteran and the safety of their patients.”
McDonough is impressed by the vaccination effort at the St. Cloud VA, with 70% of the eligible vets in the area getting fully vaccinated.
He says the next step is getting to the other 30-percent.
“We want to bring the vaccine to our vets and to make it easy. There is some hesitancy. I will be very candid about that. And here’s what we’re doing to try to address them.”
McDonough says the VA is trying to make the COVID vaccine more available with mobile units and make it available at any VA appointment.
The VA is also available to answer any questions or address concerns vets have about the vaccine.
The other major issues getting addressed at the St. Cloud VA have to do with drug addiction and mental illness.
McDonough says the St. Cloud VA leads the country on mental health care services and programming around suicide prevention.
“So seeking mental health care is as logical and as smart, and as right as seeking to take care of a sore back or a bad ankle. So, first and foremost, we’re here to offer care and that care that we
provide here is the best in the country.”
The St. Cloud VA has several mental health and drug addiction pilot projects. There’s also a suicide prevention line for veterans 800-273-8255.
The VA Secretary was given a tour of the St. Cloud VA’s new woman’s clinic.
St. Cloud VA Women Veterans Program Manager Amber Willert says women joining the military isn’t new, but it’s becoming more common.
“They’re estimating that 25% of people joining the armed forces are are women veterans compared to the Vietnam era. The biggest difference between the demographics of women versus men is our women veterans are younger, typically under age 50, where if you look at our male population, they’re 70 years old or so.”
Women are the fastest-growing cohort of veterans in the United States, and their care is a huge priority for the St. Cloud VA.
The new woman’s clinic will provide dedicated space to meet current standards.
Jake Judd (KNSI News)
“The plan is to see women veterans in here and to provide a space where the waiting room is for women veterans only. So basically, the reason that’s important for women veterans is it gives them space where if they’ve maybe experienced military, sexual trauma, or other things in the military, sometimes coming to the VA can be triggering for those past traumas—and so being in a space where there are only women helps them to feel more welcome and invited.
The clinic will provide women with primary care, including everything from yearly checkups to cancer screenings and pregnancy care.
In Minnesota, there are 25,742 women veterans or 7.7% of the veteran population.
Nationally, around 15% of veterans are women.
The new woman’s clinic costs about $5 million and will open up in Building Four’s old dining hall and kitchen area.
Jake Judd (KNSI News)
The St. Cloud VA was originally built in 1923 and opened in 1924.
The hospital was the first mental health facility in Minnesota for World War I veterans suffering from ‘shell shock,’ now commonly referred to a post-traumatic stress disorder.
Like many VA’s across the country, the biggest challenged is upgrading the 98-year-old buildings and bring them into the 21st century.
VA Secretary McDonough says there is $18 billion for improvements to VA’s in the President’s proposed American Jobs Act.
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