St. Vincent’s joins national program to expand veteran health care
St. Vincent”™s Medical Center in Bridgeport will now be part of the Veterans Choice program to provide medical treatment to veterans who must travel too far or wait too long to receive treatment from facilities run by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
“St. Vincent”™s is proud to provide high quality, compassionate, personalized care to eligible veterans in Connecticut through our participation in the Veterans Choice program,” said Stuart G. Marcus, president and CEO of the medical center. “It”™s always a great day when we can offer services to more patients in need. When it comes to caring for those who have put their lives on the line protecting our freedom ”“ our veterans ”“ that is especially true.”
Qualified U.S. veterans who face wait times in excess of 30 days at VA facilities or have to travel farther than 40 miles from their home will now be able to receive care at St. Vincent”™s locations throughout Connecticut.
As part of Ascension Health, the nation’s largest nonprofit health care system and the world’s largest Catholic health system, St. Vincent’s joins 23 other states and the District of Columbia in providing care for veterans outside the VA.
In addition, the medical center will work with Health Net, which has been designated by the VA to implement the Veterans Choice Program.
The program received $10 billion in funding through the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act of 2014, which authorized private health care entities to provide primary care, inpatient and outpatient specialty care, and mental health care for eligible veterans.
“This program is personal for so many of us, either because we served or we have a family member who is a veteran,” said Christopher Willey, Veterans Choice program administrator at St. Vincent”™s Medical Center. “As a veteran myself, it”™s important to me to carry on the mission that I started as a Navy corpsman and care for my fellow service members any time they are in need.”
According to St. Vincent”™s, nearly 9 million veterans have received the Veterans Choice Card. Use of the card is strictly voluntary; veterans who qualify for VA health care can continue to receive care at a VA medical facility as they have in the past. The program will end when the allocated funds of $10 billion are used or no later than Aug. 7, 2017.