Veterans voice worries about access to medical services, claim denial

With 150 new veterans a week enrolling in the Veterans Affairs Southern Nevada Healthcare System, the North Las Vegas VA Medical Center and its satellite clinics are now serving 55,000 people.

It’s a staggering number, calling to mind those posted by a fast-food chain that just happens to have the same name as U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert “Bob” McDonald.

But it’s not food service that some of the 120 veterans who attended Wednesday’s town hall discussion harped about to a panel of local VA officials. Their concerns, much like those raised in previous town halls, focused on delays in accessing health care services and in resolving disability claims.

They ranged from denials of claims related to health effects stemming from exposure to dioxin-laced Agent Orange defoliants used during the Vietnam War to simply deciphering names on badges worn by VA employees.

“One thing I wish every one of you would do is wear a badge so I can read your name,” veteran Alton Alverson said. “You say it doesn’t matter. Trust me, it does matter.”

Col. Guillermo Tellez, commander of the 99th Medical Group where some veterans are treated at Mike O’Callaghan Federal Medical Center at Nellis Air Force Base, said Alverson made an important observation: that older veterans need bigger print to read because it’s important for them to know who is providing care.

Marine veteran Walter Bellard, 65, of Pahrump expressed a more serious concern: “What I would like the VA to do is give me my Agent Orange benefits.”

Bellard said he served in locations in Vietnam in 1968 and 1969 where the Marine Corps and the VA know Agent Orange was sprayed, yet he repeatedly has been denied compensation for illnesses related to exposure to it.

“I’m proud to have served my country. All I’m trying to say is we need help,” Bellard said.

He and his wife, Alisha, were directed to table where VA officials said they would review paperwork documenting his service in the Vietnam War.

Army Signal Corps veteran William Brennan, 90, of Las Vegas, who served in World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars, commended the VA for years of “help with my eyes, ears and teeth.” Like others at the meeting though, he wondered why his letters to the VA don’t get answered.

It was the third in a series of forums the VA began in September after VA Secretary McDonald required VA facilities nationwide to field veterans’ concerns at town hall meetings to restore trust in the agency in the wake of scandals that surfaced last year.

While the first forum on Sept. 25 was heated at times, with many veterans making emotional accusations directed at the staff of the VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System, the second forum Dec. 18 was more subdued. Wednesday’s forum ran smoothly, with veterans given cards with numbers that were selected randomly for a chance to speak.