Local veterans participate in Mat-Su Veteran’s Town Hall

WASILLA — Dozens of local veterans attended the Alaska Veterans Affairs Healthcare System’s quarterly Mat-Su Veterans Town Hall at the Menard Sports Center Tuesday, January 28.

This question and answer meeting was a chance for veterans to have their voices heard and receive updates on any relevant information and changes in the VA system.

Alaska VA Healthcare System director Dr. Timothy Ballard said this recent meeting was a “great dialogue.” Events like these are designed to help local veterans navigate through their application process and existing care questions.

“It’s important for veterans for us to have an outreach ability,” Ballard said.

Alaska VA services, staff and infrastructure expanded over the last few years, according to Ballard. They’ve hired over 200 staff over the last two years. He said they also increased its enrollment by 3,000 veterans. But now, they’re approaching capacity.

The Valley used to only have one clinic. Over the years it’s grown to three clinics across the community. The expanded resources have helped but the demand is ever growing.

“If you were to walk through our Wasilla clinic, every single room’s full,” Ballard said. “If one-in-nine Alaskans are veterans that are potentially eligible for care, that’s somewhere close to 75 to 90,000 veterans we could potentially be serving.”

About 36,000 Alaskan veterans are enrolled in the VA and 24,000 use their services regularly, according to Ballard.

Access to care and treatment costs were some of the concerns brought up during the town hall. Ballard said that Alaska is the least resourced state when it comes to healthcare, but there has been some progress. He said there’s drastically fewer people flying to Seattle for specialty care.

“We could talk about all sorts of different strategies for this, but I’m telling you we’ve made a lot of progress. It’s never going to be a cost effective ordeal for veterans to get healthcare in Alaska. The government is willing to pay for it. They think it’s important enough. The least we can do is continue building our infrastructure so that we’re more self-sustained,” Ballard said.

Ballard said the Alaska VA is starting a partnership with the state to reach more potentially eligible veterans across Alaska, and encourage them to apply.

The goal is to send periodic messages to veterans from a database of emails gained through PFD applications. He encouraged veterans to be sure to indicate they’re a veteran while filing for their PFD, and to provide their email.

“I would encourage you to do so. We’re not trying to drown you with emails,” Ballard said.

The Alaska VA Healthcare System holds Veteran Town Halls across the state each quarter. They encourage the public to join each quarter and welcome “frank and open discussion.”

For more information, the VA has a “One Stop Shop” point of contact that can be reached at 907-257-5463 or alaskaquery@va.gov. For the main line, call 907-257-5460. The main website can be accessed at alaska.va.gov.

They also encourage the public to phone in during the TeleTown Hall Feb. 13 from 6 to 7:00 p.m. To participate, dial 907-313-3342.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com