Westerman tours local VA clinic

The Sentinel-Record/Richard Rasmussen CLINIC TOUR: U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-District 4, left, talks with Dr. Margie Scott, Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System’s interim director, right, on Wednesday as his Military and Veterans Affairs representative, David Witte, looks on during a tour of the Hot Springs Veterans Affairs Clinic.
The Sentinel-Record/Richard Rasmussen CLINIC TOUR: U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-District 4, left, talks with Dr. Margie Scott, Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System’s interim director, right, on Wednesday as his Military and Veterans Affairs representative, David Witte, looks on during a tour of the Hot Springs Veterans Affairs Clinic.

U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-District 4, said Wednesday that the Hot Springs Veterans Affairs Clinic gets good reports from the community.

"This is my first time here and it confirms the feedback I get from the community that the VA clinic does a pretty good job. I don't always hear that, but fortunately the facility in Hot Springs seems to be doing things right and I'm proud to have them in the district," he said after touring the facility Wednesday morning.

"The VA has been in the news a lot lately, but I hear good things about you here, and I appreciate the work you do," he told staff members during the early morning visit.

Paula Vincent, clinic manager, said the facility has more than 5,000 patients, and is "growing every day."

"We have anywhere from six to 10 new patients a week, so our caseload is growing. We've gone from about 2,000 when we opened to a little over 5,000 now," she said.

Vincent also told Westerman that the clinic has no backlog of patients waiting for service.

"Our new patients are being scheduled within two weeks and if we can't get to them as fast as they want, we offer them Little Rock. A few will go, but most want to wait for us," she said.

Clinic staff members said the facility provides nonemergent primary health care, along with support from a dietitian, a pharmacist who will review a veteran's medications and discuss effects, radiology services, a full-service lab, mental health services and physical therapy.

"There is a lot of demand for that," a staff member said.

Vincent said the physical therapy began as a twice-a-week service but quickly grew to five times a week.

Dr. Catina McClain said about 18 percent to 20 percent of the clinic's total number of patients receive some type of mental health service.

"We have a therapist as well as two psychiatrists, and I believe we're in the process of recruiting for a psychologist," she said.

"One of the things I hear is that the level of mental health service is what sets the VA apart from other health systems," Westerman said.

McClain said one of the things the clinics is proud of, in addition to having an on-site mental health staff, is if a veteran needs a higher level or type of treatment, the facility has those services readily available and can get them in for more specialized service as needed.

"We want to be part of the solution and help make you more effective," Westerman said.

"We're very fortunate here in Hot Springs, and I think Paula will tell you the community owns this clinic. The VFW is very involved in this clinic and the advisory council in Hot Springs is very proactive and represents the community," said Dr. Margie Scott, interim director of the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System.

Westerman told The Sentinel-Record he doesn't believe there is anything coming up immediately in Washington, D.C., regarding veterans issues but his district offices hear about veterans issues almost daily.

"We have a guy that is pretty much full-time working on veteran issues. I think vets deserve that service and we're going to continue working hard for them to make sure they get the right services they need," he said.

Local on 05/28/2015

Upcoming Events