For veterans who cannot get to the VA hospital to get their medical care, or for those who’d like to save themselves the drive, a mobile VA unit is coming to the West End. The Forum was notified Jan. 21 that a mobile medical unit (MMU) would be coming to Nucla Feb. 4 and Feb. 5. It will be on site both days at the VFW Uranium Post, located at 1045 Main Street, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Braydon Gear, who is the Veteran Outreach Program Specialist for the VA in western Colorado, will be there with an outreach team to answer any questions about VA health care. Gear said he encouraged veterans to schedule their appointments in advance by calling 970-263-2829. And, the VA has been calling vets in the local area to get them on the books. Still, some walk-in appointments might be available on those days too.
The mobile unit itself won’t actually be there this time, but VA health care workers will set up shop inside the VFW, which is also the same shared space as the Nucla Community Center, and a tent will be outside too.
“For this first time, the MMU bus will not be there, because it is getting worked on,” Gear said in an email. “The MMU team will set up shop in the building, and I will set up shop outside with my VA tent.”
Gear told the Nucla VFW Uranium Post the plan now is to have the MMU go to Nucla every other month. The next time the MMU team will travel to the West End is April.
Veterans can plan on getting a lot done. That includes bloodwork, vaccines, ear irrigation, basic physicals and screenings. Additionally, tele-health will be happening, so that veterans can consult with a doctor. John Reed, quartermaster for the Nucla VFW, told the Forum he thinks there will be audiology coming at some point, so veterans can have hearing checked and hearing aids adjusted.
Reed said the mobile care is new for the West End. He said any veteran who lives more than 50 miles away from the VA hospital is authorized to seek medical care at the facilities closest to them. He thinks the VA is trying to reach veterans and help serve them better under their umbrella.
Reed said, though, that having the mobile unit doesn’t solve everything. He said some veterans, especially the elderly, struggle to make it to appointments with specialists. Now, members of the local VFW want to be supportive — and they already have been. Reed has personally driven some veterans for specialty appointments which require a few hours of travel time.
“Those who can’t drive anymore,” he said, “some are are so old, and the trip is really hard on them. They have the opportunity not to have that on them with (the mobile unit). … But there are things they won’t be able to do and will have to make the trip to Grand Junction. That would be our purpose for that. If they need care for a specialist, the times when they have to make that trip, our veterans can drive them over.”
Reed said he’d share with the Forum how the February sessions with the MMU went.