Billionaire Funding 20 to 25 Clinics for Veterans

Billionaire pledges $275 million for free mental health care for veterans, families
Stars and Stripes
By Heath Druzin
Published: April 8, 2016

A billionaire hedge-fund manager has pledged $275 million to build clinics offering free mental health care to veterans and their families.

Steven Cohen, who heads Point72 Asset Management, will build 20 to 25 clinics across the country in the next three to five years, with the first ones opening in July.

The initial clinics will be in New York, Dallas, San Antonio and Los Angeles, according to a press release from the Cohen Veterans Network, the nonprofit group overseeing the effort.

The announcement comes as the Department of Veterans Affairs remains under fire for long wait times and inadequate health care for veterans and is getting increasing criticism for denying health care to veterans with other than honorable discharges.

Cohen’s clinics would offer free mental health care to all veterans, regardless of discharge status, with priority given to post-9/11 vets. The clinics promise short wait times and free transportation to appointments.

“It’s very simple the way we see it: A veteran is someone who wore the uniform for even one day,” Cohen Veterans Network Executive Director Dr. Anthony Hassan said in a phone interview with Stars and Stripes.

Hassan, an Army and Air Force veteran who has spent years studying military behavioral health, said he picked the initial locations based on their high concentrations of veterans and long VA wait times for mental health appointments.
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Georgia Community Base VA Clinic Not Taking New Patients?

VA to Iraq war veteran: We're not taking new patients 
Military Times
Patricia Kime
Staff Writer
June 30, 2015

Iraq war veteran Chris Dorsey says he was denied care at the Oakwood, Ga., VA clinic. (Photo: Courtesy of Chris Dorsey)

Iraq war veteran Chris Dorsey figured that no one would believe he had been turned away from a VA clinic when he sought an appointment for post-traumatic stress disorder.

So when he went on Tuesday to another facility, the VA Oakwood, Georgia, Community Based Outpatient Clinic, he flipped on his smartphone camera.

On the video, Dorsey is heard waiting patiently in line for more than 5 minutes. When he reaches the check-in counter, he informs the desk he needs a transfer from the Athens, Georgia, VA system and an appointment.

The response?

"We're not accepting any new patients — not this clinic," the VA employee behind the desk says, without providing any extra information, assistance or follow-on guidance for treatment.

According to Dorsey, his previous experience, getting turned away at the VA clinic in Lawrenceville, Georgia, prompted him to bring his camera to the Oakwood facility.
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Florida Veteran Marine Forgotten and Locked into VA Clinic

WATCH: Marine gets locked inside VA Outpatient Clinic in Orange City
News 13
By John W. Davis and Natalie Tolomeo, Team Coverage
July 22, 2014

A U.S. Marine Corps veteran said he was locked inside this VA Outpatient Clinic, in Orange City, on Monday, July 21, 2014.

ORANGE CITY
Jeff Duck, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, was sitting inside a room at a VA Outpatient Clinic in Volusia County Monday. He was told to wait in the room and that someone would be there shortly.

No one came, though. And when he went out of the room to see what was going on, he realized he was the only person inside the clinic.

Duck said he's not blaming anyone in particular, but he does think what happened to him shows the VA system is broken.

"In the military, you never leave anybody behind," Duck said Monday night. "This kind of leaves the feeling — obviously I was left behind."

Duck, using his cell phone, captured video Monday afternoon when he stopped in for a visit at the Orange City-based VA Outpatient Clinic, located on South Volusia Avenue.

"You could see in the video (that) the lab was open," Duck said. "I don't know what was in there. I didn't look that closely. They have locks to the doors going back to the doctors’ offices, but I could have just crawled over the front counter and walked to the back."
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VA drop in clinics are good for veterans and communities

Drop-In Clinic Through the Eyes of a Hero It Helped

By: Marci Manley, KARK 4 News
Updated: January 20, 2012

"Still wallowing in my depression and PTSD, not knowing where to turn," she said sitting inside the Veterans Hospital at Fort Roots in North Little Rock. "You don't want to be close to your family at times, you don't trust yourself."

Across town, a counselor stands in a room of about a dozen veterans.

"How do we go about staying focused? How do we keep our self-esteem up?" she asks them.

Barbara Minyard served the better part of a decade in the armed services. After her discharge the small cramped space where this counselor stands was the safe haven that offered Minyard an escape from the anxiety and depression of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

"Without the help I've received through the VA, I think I'd still be there," Minyard said. "I would still be in a pretty bad situation. I wouldn't have a home, because of the state of mind I was in."

Many veterans suffer from psychological torments, like PTSD and depression, once they leave the military. Finding help isn't always easy, but the drop-in clinic on Second and Ringo Streets is a place they can turn when they hit bottom.

"You're still wanting to depend on yourself, you're embarrassed. There's too much pride, so you hide and that makes it even worse," Minyard said.

For years, the drop-in center has been helping homeless veterans with temporary housing, counseling, career training, and therapy.
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Montana Havre VA clinic bogged down

Local Headlines:
Havre VA clinic bogged down



(Created: Friday, August 29, 2008 1:06 PM MDT)


Tim Leeds Havre Daily News tleeds@havredailynews.com

The Veterans Affairs Montana Healthcare System has announced that the plans to open a VA clinic in Havre have been delayed while the VA determines the most cost-effective way to open a Havre clinic. Teresa Bell, public affairs officer for VA Montana Healthcare System, said that after the VA received bids to provide services on a contract basis in Havre, the VA decided to review a bid by a local provider and determine whether the clinic should be opened on a contract basis or opened as a separate VA-staffed facility. “Whenever the government enters into a contract arrangement there is a requirement to assure the price is cost effective to the government … ,” Bell said in an e-mail. “Once the analysis is complete VA will go forward with the Havre (clinic).”
Montana’s U. S. Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester said they have been looking into the delay. Both also said they will fight to make sure it does open. “The Havre VA Clinic is a big priority for me, and I have directly contacted VA Montana about this delay.
They say they’re taking a second look at how they want to do the Havre clinic to get the best bang for the buck for Montana’s veterans and taxpayers,” said Tester, a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee. “I am frustrated that things have ground to a halt but I have assurances from (Montana VA Healthcare) Director (Joe) Underkofler that the VA remains committed to opening a clinic in Havre sooner rather than later. “As a member of the Senate veterans committee I will keep the VA’s feet to the fire and work to make sure The Havre clinic doesn’t get bogged down in red tape.” Tester added. “Hi-Line vets have waited long enough.” Baucus also said he will fight to make sure the clinic does open. “I’ve made it very clear to the VA that there is a tremendous need for veterans’ health services in Havre and across the Hi-Line,” he said.
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http://www.havredailynews.com/articles/2008/08/29/local_headlines/state.txt