Communication is stressed to veterans

How to effectively meet the health care needs of those who have served this country remains a key issue in discussions around the nation.
Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary David LaCerte, with the help of District 26 State Sen. Jonathan “JP” Perry (R–Kaplan), brought that discussion to the local level Thursday morning.
The two welcomed more than two dozen veterans to a town hall meeting at the library in Abbeville.
“A lot of times as a state senator,” Perry told those in the audience, “we are getting the initial calls on how to help (veterans) and get the services in place.
“I didn’t think there was a better way to do it than to simply get Secretary LaCerte here and let you all meet him face to face.”
LaCerte, himself a Marine veteran, who has served as secretary since June after working in various levels with the department for more than four years, said he is more than happy to go that route.
“We have done 25 of these,” LaCerte said of recent town hall meetings.
A similar meeting took place Thursday afternoon in Rayne.
What came out of the Abbeville meeting was having the veterans simply voice their concerns and experiences.
“I think the best and most-honest way to communicate with people,” LaCerte said, “is to shake their hand and look them in the eye, hear about their experience in the VA system from their words.
“You want to hear what people experience day-to-day in their care and their life.”
Some of what was told Thursday included stories of wait time to see a doctor, as well as difficulty in scheduling appointments and the claims process. Others mentioned issues with travel time and reimbursement thereof. Louisiana has three hospitals, Alexandria, New Orleans and Shreveport, as well as clinics in cities throughout the state. LaCerte discussed the expansion of clinics in Lafayette and Lake Charles.
Those issues and facilities are all handled on the federal level. LaCerte said discussing those issues is a step to making a difference.
“It’s important that if we are going to make reforms and changes to the VA system,” he said, “that we have those tailored to fix the problems that people are facing in reality.
“It is important for us to have these communications, not only with folks like myself, but with your elected officials.”
It is not only negative issues that are worth pointing out.
“If you have a great experience with the VA, that is the way it is supposed to be,” LaCerte said. “We want to hear about that, too.”
What should never get lost, according to LaCerte, is the idea that the VA exists to serve those who have served.
“Sometimes the VA forgets that they are running a customer-service based program,” LaCerte said. “We’re the customers, the users of this program. We need to make sure that they remember that we are not just numbers and statistics.
“We are not just stacks of paper in some office.”
One of the main services the Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs offers is Veterans Parish Service Offices throughout the state. Vermilion Parish’s office is located in the old Hibernia building at 407 Charity St. in Abbeville. The number is 893-2072. The hours of operation are from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.
“Those offices are a good place to provide services,” LaCerte said.
Again, whether it is at that office, LaCerte said veterans should remain actively engaged with any and all issues that affect them.
“We do need to tell people what our problems are,” LaCerte stressed to the veterans in attendance. “We as a veteran population, for far too long, have let other people make the decisions. We need to educate our elected officials on what our issues are. We need to advocate on behalf of us and fellow veterans.
“We need to challenge our elected officials to be engaged and stay active on our issues.”
Perry said he is more than willing to be a part of that process.
“I think the whole point of this meeting was to let the veterans know that someone is willing to listen,” Perry said. “They often call our office out of frustration because they don’t know where else to go.
“Now they see a face (LaCerte) with the department and then know someone is willing to take the issues that they have.”