The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center, Wilkes-Barre announced today the re-opening of our Tobyhanna and Northampton (Bangor, PA) Community Based Outpatient Clinics at a 50% face-to-face pre-COVID capacity, effective 28 September. All services remain available, and veterans who need to be seen will be scheduled for care. (more…)
All C&P Exam Locations Now Open For those in the process of settling a claim submission, some good news. Not everything is resolvable via telecommunications, the use of which is reportedly up a thousand percent. The Veterans Benefits Administration’s operations must have been severely affected, therefore. The VA has partnered Read more…
The VA announced this week its commitment to extend debt relief to veterans impacted by natural disasters. The department recognizes veterans and their beneficiaries are negatively impacted by the wildfires and hurricanes prompting the offering of financial-debt relief. This includes the suspension of debt-collection actions for up to 90 days Read more…
In the latest issue of Vision for Excellence, VISN-4 highlights the work of its front-line staff in caring for veterans and keeping them safe in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It also highlights several winners of our quarterly “I CARE” Awards and reports on how VISN 4 is improving access to care.
Pages 7 and 12 address VA prescription management, a concern expressed by some veterans (more…)
Long overdue, the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers (PCAFC), formerly reserved to only those who served during the “Global War on Terror” for improper reason, will expand sometime in October, with a launch date to be announced in mid-September.
PCAFC expansion will open up the program to eligible WWII, Korean and Vietnam Veterans. In addition, eligibility will change: veterans must have a single or combined VA service-connected disability rating of 70% or higher. This applies regardless of whether the disability is the result of an injury, illness or disease.
One welcomed addition is that family caregivers will also have access to financial planning,legal services in addition to robust educational and supportive services, such as workshops, self-care courses, a caregiver support line, psycho-educational group calls, and peer support mentoring. (more…)
The Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center has announced it will be temporarily closing the Northampton County Clinic in the vicinity of Bangor as of 4:30 p.m. today. It was a short notice notification. Those seeking seeking in-person care will have to travel to the Allentown Outpatient Clinic or Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center, both over 45 minutes away from the current location.
Their announcement stated that this was being done out of an abundance of caution related to the transmission of the COVID-19 coronavirus illness. A little late to think of that. (more…)
It was to be expected, but now it is official:
As of 20 March, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ National Cemetery Administration (NCA) will only conduct committal services for groups of 10 or fewer people.
But as of 23 March, committal services (including honors) will not be conducted until further notice. Both of these announcements, especially the latter, will affect the rendering of military honors. They are discontinued until further notice — including those conducted by The American Legion, VFW, etc. The same is occurring de facto at private graveside services, and funeral homes are limiting presences at their facilities, as you might have read. (more…)
CANCELLED! Upcoming Community Town Halls At the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, we strive to provide our Veterans with effective healthcare in a safe and effective manner. Although, to date, there have been only (6) positive cases of the Covid-19 identified across Pennsylvania, and NO Read more…
Tele Urgent Care is now available in VISN 4, which means our Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center Healthcare Network is providing it. Veterans can now obtain care with the ease of a video chat. (more…)