A Mobile VA Clinic in Colorado
Claims, medical exams, housing support, and other services come together in one place.
A mobile VA clinic brought Veterans Evaluations Services together with the VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System and its Community Resource and Referral Center at a Stand Down event for veterans experiencing homelessness. Army veteran David Bright and VA program manager Missy Mish describe how the mobile clinic helped veterans complete claims and exams in a few hours and connect with other services.
What one veteran found at the mobile clinic
“I got way more than I expected.”
David Bright, after visiting the mobile VA clinic
Claims and exams in one visit
“They actually brought their partners who are able to then also provide the exams, which is what usually takes so long in getting a claim done from start to finish.”
Missy Mish, on services at the mobile VA clinic
What success looks like
“Even if we have helped one person make that transition from homelessness to housing and created a better path for them, I will have considered this event successful.”
Missy Mish, on the mobile VA clinic’s goals
Transcript
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Colorado is just one of many states where wait times can be long if you’re a veteran trying to get assistance from the VA. To help reduce those times, today the VA held a mobile clinic for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic. We sent Denver7’s Micah Smith, who spoke with veterans who say the clinic is a much-needed help.
When veteran David Bright moved to Colorado four weeks ago, his housing plans fell through. “I’ve been staying with, you know, friends and at hotels when I can.” To get back on his feet, Bright wants to use the benefits he earned serving his country.
Tell me about your service. “Well, I’m a U.S. Army vet. I served from 1984 to 1990, and I was stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, and Korea.” But he says the paperwork and various Veterans Affairs units can be hard to navigate. “Well, you know, you get the intake, and then they say, ‘Okay, we gotta get back with you.’ Could be a week, could be two weeks.”
VA wait times have been an issue for years. Accessing benefits can be even more challenging for homeless vets. “Today we’re having our VA Stand Down.” Missy Mish is a program manager for the VA’s Community Resource and Referral Center. This mobile clinic is part of a larger effort to help more veterans access resources. “The biggest challenge is finding them. We have kind of relaunched the Stand Down model, really focused on bringing in our veterans who are experiencing literal homelessness.”
Mish says the resource center is partnering with the Veterans Benefits Administration to process claims for benefits on-site. “They actually brought their partners who are able to then also provide the exams, which is what usually takes so long in getting a claim done from start to finish.”
Mish says what can take weeks takes a few hours here, allowing veterans to file claims, complete exams, secure housing, while also grabbing a meal and a haircut.
“Even if we have helped one person make that transition from homelessness to housing and created a better path for them, I will have considered this event successful.”
“I got way more than I expected. They have great resources, great resources,” and a fresh start for his new life in Colorado. Reporting in Denver, Micah Smith, Denver7.
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