A Town Hall meeting about Veterans Administration healthcare called “System Worth Saving” was hosted by American Legion Post 98 in Coral Gables on Monday, May 14, drawing about 50 veterans and spouses of veterans. The question and answer session lasted almost two hours.
Besides Post Commander Michael Pelton, Adjutant Paul Kruger, Chaplain Ed English and other officers, panel participants included Edwin Thomas, Assistant Director of Health Policy from the Washington, DC office of the American Legion, and, from the Miami office of the VA Healthcare System, Paul Russo, Medical Center director; Marcia Lysaght, associate director, Patient Care Services; Titiola Olugbakinro, chief, Medical Administrative Services; Albert Tucker, acting assistant director; Cristina Gonzalez, chief, Health Information Management Services; Julie Elliot, chief, Customer Service; Dr. Seth Spector, chief, Operative Care Service and acting chief of staff; Dr. Remberto Rodriguez, chief, Ambulatory Care, and Jason Dominguez, public affairs specialist.
Also in attendance were Congressional Aide Jennifer Blanco of U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart’s office and Jennifer Rojo Suarez, regional director of U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson’s office.
Edwin Thomas welcomed everyone.
“I want to thank everyone from the Miami VA for being here tonight. We don’t get this kind of turnout for all of our ‘System Worth Saving’ meetings. I wish we did,” Thomas said. “I want to thank all of you veterans as well. We’ll be talking about healthcare tonight, and we want to discuss the issue of privatization as well.”
Some members of Congress have suggested privatizing veterans healthcare as a cost-saving measure instead of maintaining VA hospitals and clinics. It quickly became clear that virtually none of the veterans attending the town hall meeting were in favor of privatization.
Many of the veterans or spouses who came to the microphone praised the quality of VA healthcare here. Some had questions about applying for certain kinds of benefits or treatments. Still others had suggestions about possible ways to improve the system.
Post Chaplain Ed English said, “I want to say that the best service I have ever received was at the VA.”
One man from the Homestead area asked if the vacant commissary building at Homestead Air Reserve Base could be used as a VA clinic to save travel time for veterans from Homestead to the Keys. Medical Center director Paul Russo, who answered most of the questions, agreed that was a good idea and said they had already requested that from Homestead ARB officials but were turned down without explanation.
A veteran named Joseph who is a volunteer as well as a patient had praise for the VA and said that his father, a veteran who served in several wars, also was a patient.
“The VA has done so much for my father,” Joseph said. “I live on Miami Beach, just blocks from Mount Sinai Hospital, and I take the train to the VA. I can’t do enough for the VA. I volunteer three days a week. You guys do a great thing.”
The Veterans Administration Healthcare System is located at 1201 NW 16 St., Miami, FL 33125. For information visit www.miami.va.gov/ or call 305-575-7000.
