Veterans air concerns on health care

More than 100 veterans from World War II through the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan packed a town hall meeting Wednesday night to tell an advisory panel that they need a central medical facility to handle the special needs of Southern Nevada's growing veterans population.

"Part of the problem with the VA is we have nowhere to turn for help. Older veterans are paying the price just for being older," said disabled veteran Bruce Rebel, the first to address the Veterans Affairs Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom Advisory Committee.

Many followed his lead, with some saying the care offered at a number of clinics around the Las Vegas Valley is excellent once they endure waits and unsnarl transportation problems.

Others acknowledged that a new hospital is being built but said it is long overdue. The $600 million, 210-bed veterans hospital is under construction on the valley's north side, expected to be completed by 2011.

In the meantime, many veterans such as Iraq war veteran Rich Ciolfi, who endured a roadside bomb explosion, must travel out of state at the government's expense for surgery and other treatment.

"It's getting ridiculous. They fly me out at least once a month," he said, noting that the cost for round-trip air fare alone is $360.

The advisory panel consists of veterans and relatives of veterans who have been wounded in the nation's wars overseas, including retired Army Capt. Lonnie Moore, who lost his leg in Iraq.

The health care issue, he said at the beginning of the two-hour meeting, "affects me as well."

Moore, chairman of the Western region subcommittee, said the panel will make proposals to improve the care and related processes, especially for veterans of the war on terrorism who are entering the VA system.

"Many of the suggestions will help the care and treatment for all veterans," he said.

Moore said he was impressed with the crowd that crammed into the Jewel Box Theater in the Clark County Library on East Flamingo Road.

"We know Las Vegas is building a new hospital, and some of the things we learn will facilitate putting the care in that's needed," Moore said.

Frank Perna, an advocate for homeless veterans, said there are two major problems with the VA in Southern Nevada.

"The first is our population growth, which strains our resources," Perna said.

"The second is the most serious: a lack of unity in the veterans and military community and support from the population.

"'Support our troops' is a meaningless political mantra if the population, politicians and bureaucrats do not support our veterans and support our homeless veterans," he said.

"It's disheartening to see our returning Iraq-Afghanistan veterans leaving the battlefield sick physically and mentally, being treated every bit as badly as the Vietnam-era veterans and first Gulf War veterans," Perna told the panel.