Sen. Collins urges improved veterans health care in state

WASHINGTON – Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, expressed her concerns about Maine veterans’ access to health care facilities to Department of Veterans Affairs officials Wednesday.

“We need increased funding for community-based out-patient clinics,” Collins said at a hearing of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, on which she sits. “The ones that have been established work very well, but there are many that have been on the drawing board for a long time [but have been] delayed from opening because of a lack in funding.”

Outpatient clinics in Maine are located in Bangor, Calais, Caribou, Lincoln, Rumford and Saco. The clinics are associated with the Togus VA Medical Center in Augusta.

Gary Laweryson, a Marine retiree and member of the Maine Veterans Coordinating Committee, said plans have been made for clinics to open in Dover-Foxcroft, Farmington, Houlton and the Lewiston-Auburn area.

Laweryson agreed with Collins that funding the opening of the new clinics is critical for Maine veterans seeking access to health care.

“We’re making progress,” he said in a telephone interview. “Our big push is to get these clinics open. We need the facilities – the others are full to overflowing.”

There are 25 million veterans in the United States and 5 million veterans who receive care that the Veterans Health Administration provides, according to the office of the VA inspector general.

In Maine, more than 35,000 veterans are currently seeking treatment for service-related health problems, according to Laweryson. The state is home to more than 150,000 veterans.

In addition to more clinics, Collins said, more health care providers are needed.

“When I’ve talked to veterans throughout the state they are very happy with the presence of these clinics,” Collins said in an interview. “Their main concern is that they’d like to see more staff at the clinics. I know the clinic in Caribou a few months ago was seeking additional mental health providers, another psychologist, for example.”

Jim Doherty, staff assistant to the director at Togus Medical Center, said the Bangor VA Clinic, located on Hancock Street, has six care providers treating about 50 veterans a day. The affiliated Bangor Mental Health Clinic, located a floor away in the same building, cares for another 35 people a day.

When asked if the Maine clinics were meeting timely scheduling goals, Doherty said they were trying.

“That’s what we are working toward,” he said in a telephone interview. “We can’t achieve it in every case, but we’ve also been bringing on significant increases in staffing so we can meet those needs.”

Laweryson said the veterans’ health care system in Maine is experiencing “growing pains.”

“The number of combat veterans in Maine had been stagnant for 34 years, but that’s changing,” he said. “The money is coming, but we need the doctors. We need some competent help. The state isn’t set up to handle all the vets with post-traumatic stress disorder.”

Collins agreed that Maine lacks a sufficient number of health care professionals.

“I am concerned about the lack of mental health professionals around the state,” she said. “Certainly as we see this influx of veterans coming home from very difficult service in Iraq and Afghanistan, the need for mental health counseling has grown considerably. It’s a problem because Maine has a shortage in general in mental health professionals, particularly in the northern, eastern and western part of the state.”

Despite his recognition of significant shortcomings in terms of clinics and staff, Laweryson said he is optimistic about the level of commitment to veterans displayed by the state and congressional delegation.

“With the people we have in office, we are moving ahead,” he said. “They really do battle for us, and we are making progress.”

Collins said Congress will continue to provide funding to care for veterans.

“I believe that Congress is always going to stand by our vets and that most members of the Senate certainly appreciate the service of our veterans,” Collins said in the interview. “I for one am determined to make sure that the funding is provided to meet our obligation to our veterans, whether it is mental health services or physical health services.”