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Rural Veterans can now get care out Community Based Outpatient Clinics such as the one in Dalhart, Texas.

Travel can be hard especially if you don’t feel well.
 
The Amarillo VA Health Care System is determined to remove barriers and make access to care easier for rural Veterans. Whether it is rising gas prices, lost days at work, or long drives, if you are one of the 6.1 million rural Veterans, these can be detrimental to getting quality health care.
 
“Veterans live in rural areas,” says Randy Kotara, CBOC Coordinator and Rural Health Coordinator.  “It only makes sense that the VA expand to accommodate the healthcare needs of our Veterans.  With a clinic in Dalhart, we can better serve Veterans from not only the Texas panhandle, but the Oklahoma panhandle, Southwest Kansas, Southeast Colorado, and Eastern New Mexico.  It is our goal to increase the number of Veterans we serve at each community based outpatient clinic (CBOC) by focusing on outreach events.”
 
In October 2013, the Amarillo VA opened its CBOC in Dalhart, Texas.  It will be a primary care clinic to more than 500 Veterans. The Clinic is the fourth of its kind for the Amarillo VA with clinics in Lubbock, Texas, Childress, Texas, and Clovis, New Mexico. But, to truly remove obstacles for Vets in these areas, more than a few buildings are needed.
 
“VA made it possible to develop a strong bond with my patients that you probably couldn't get anywhere else. They know we are here for them.  They trust us, and that's a good feeling,” explains Licensed Clinical Nurse Kori Guzman, a mainstay in Childress, TX.
 
Transportation is the biggest problem.  So, the Amarillo VA has the Veterans Transportation System (VTS).  VTS is a shuttle system that gets Veterans from their neck of the woods to the nearest Amarillo VA facility.  For instance, a VTS shuttle starts out in the morning, picking up in Clayton, New Mexico.  It then makes a stop at the clinic in Dalhart, Texas, travels down to Dumas, and finally stops at the Thomas E. Creek VA Medical Center in Amarillo.  More than 200 patients per month were assisted by VTS travel in 2013.
 
“Veterans have to travel an average of 63 miles for care. In response Amarillo has implemented a VTS shuttle to reduce the burden those Veterans face while increasing their access to care at the same time,” says Jonathon Coble, Mobility Manager for the Amarillo VA.
 
The Amarillo VA also offers Clinical Video Telehealth (CVT).  These real-time video monitors allow Veterans to be seen by specialists miles and miles away from where they are standing.   CBOCs such as Lubbock, Childress, Dalhart, Texas or Clovis, New Mexico can refer patients for Telemental health, Telerehabilitation, and Telesurgery (for diagnosis of surgical conditions).   More routinely, however, Veterans can get check-ups and consultations from physicians while clinic staff continues hands-on care. 
 
A third of the Veterans returning from Operations Enduring/Iraqi Freedom live in rural parts of the country.  With shifting economics and rising costs for living, the Amarillo VA is working to meet the needs of Veterans in those rural areas by a multi-layered system of building outward, transporting inward, and advancing technologies.