By Karen Gleason
Older Val Verde County veterans may soon be able to get some much-needed medical attention closer to home, thanks to work being done by the county veterans service office and the Veterans Administration.
Val Verde County Veterans Service Officer Adrian Bitela told the 830 Times today, “In inner cities, where there are a lot of veterans to service, it’s easy to network a physician, to provide veterans with in-home care, hospice care, to get a nurse who can go into a home to take care of a veteran, but right now, that doesn’t exist here in Del Rio.”
Bitela said the healthcare program for older veterans is operated by the South Texas Veterans Healthcare System and the Veterans Administration, and he said the program is not yet available in Val Verde County “because they were unaware of how many veterans we service here.”
Bitela said his office serves about 4,300 veterans in Val Verde County, though he noted the program he and the VA are working to bring here is geared toward care for older veterans.
Bitela said he reached out to the Veterans Administration several months ago to let them know a need for the program existed in Val Verde County.
He said a team from the VA would spend three days this week visiting Val Verde Regional Medical Center and several local nursing homes to lay the groundwork for establishing the program here.
“We’re working on building the idea of how we’re going to do it,” Bitela said.
He added he hopes the program can be up and running as soon as next year.
