VA: Wasilla clinic will have a full-time doctor by June

WASILLA — The Veterans’ Affairs clinic in Wasilla will have an in-house full-time doctor by June, officials told veterans at a Tuesday listening session.

The clinic had been without a dedicated full-time physician since May 2014, officials said. As a result, veterans who sought care at the clinic for much-needed services were treated either by part-time, clinicians or practitioners who travelled in from Anchorage, or shunted to other area clinics, like the Benteh Nuutah Valley Native Primary Care Center. Nurse-practitioners have also staffed the clinic continuously.

The clinic has struggled to maintain a doctor for years, said Dr. Cynthia Joe, the Chief of Staff for the Alaska VA Healthcare system, shortly after a listening session at the Menard Center March 10.

"We’ve been advertising for a position since 2012," she said. "We’ve had people accept them (the positions) and drop out. Someone local, someone who’s been with us. Someone who’s coming from the lower 48. They’ve all had their separate reasons for not coming."

About 20 people turned out to address VA officials at the listening session, with issues or complaints ranging from apparently minor to the systemic. Other veterans said they had specific issues with a particular local contractor, and Joe and other officials said they would work to address them.

For example, Lee Gavitt pointed out that some pills he routinely pays more money for at VA-approved pharmacies are actually cheaper at non-VA-approved pharmacies. That's important because many veterans are on fixed incomes, Gavitt said.

"While it seems the dollar amount is kind of trivial — and it was for me, I can afford it — we have a lot of vets where every dollar really counts for them," he said.

Some who attended said they had no particular issues to be addressed, but were generally happy with the level of care they had received, like Dave Glenn, who was totally disabled by exposure to the Agent Orange defoliant during the Vietnam War.

"I've got friends my age, retired, they're paying $1,000 a month for health insurance," he said. "The VA has treated me well. Is there room for improvements? Of course. We need 'em. We all do."

By contrast, Steve Harrison said the administration funds could be better spent buying private insurance for numerous veterans. He listed numerous complaints about the VA he said stemmed from frustration with people who were unable to help him, and conditions at a Seattle hospital he found repugnant. He had worked to get those complaints addressed for years, and had been frustrated to tears on numerous occasions, Harrison added.

"I'll meet with the devil at the stroke of midnight in a graveyard on Halloween if it means we get healthcare," he said.

A technician was on hand to work with veterans with specific complaints, and many were directed to register online at www.myhealth.va.gov, using the "My Healthevet" system. While perfection might be difficult to attain, that was the goal, said VA spokesman Samuel Hudson.

"We're not perfect," he said. "Our intent is to be perfect."

Contact Brian O'Connor at 352-2269, brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com, or on Twitter @reporterbriano.