A FORUM FOR CROSS-POLLINATION: VHC’s Partnership-Advocacy Meeting

VVA’s Veterans Health Council hosted this year’s first Partnership and Advocacy Meeting at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., on June 13.

The VHC was established in February 2009 to improve health care for veterans of all eras by creating an ongoing forum to discuss, develop, and promote effective efforts to educate veterans, their families, caregivers, and health care providers about health issues associated with military service.

Leaders of more than thirty organizations attended the Pfizer-underwritten meeting, including representatives from VSOs, pharmaceutical companies, patient advocacy organizations, and other health care related organizations. This was the first opportunity for many to meet retired Army Colonel and new VHC Director, Artie Shelton.

“Through our established relationships and cumulative expertise we can continue the energy of our joint forces,” Dr. Shelton said. “Together our focus will provide the medical community with a greater and more complete understanding of the veteran experience and its impact on the health-related issues facing all veterans.” 

He illustrated the need for comprehensive veteran health understanding by describing how his deployment—as the 42nd Medical Task Force Hospital Commander in Mogadishu, Somalia—had an impact on the men and women in his hospital and the 30,000 soldiers who deployed. After coming home 789 veterans who served in Somalia made 2,437 visits to Vet Centers with 82 collateral visits by spouses or significant others.

Maureen Elias, a VHC Assistant Director and mental health expert, briefly discussed her background and current education efforts, including a recent op-ed she wrote in Military Times and presentations on veteran and first responder suicide risk and prevention training she gave in Pennsylvania and Indiana, as well as a presentation in collaboration with VVA’s PSTD & Substance Abuse Committee. Elias said she was especially touched when, following a recent presentation, a Vietnam veteran told her he was finally going to seek PTSD counseling.

Rebecca Patterson, a VHC Assistant Director and environmental health scientist, discussed her background and recent activities studying toxic exposures during military service. Patterson has attended conferences examining adverse health effects of exposure to mefloquine, an antimalarial given to many Gulf War veterans, and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, which have contaminated hundreds of military bases and surrounding waters. She shares this information with VSOs that are part of the new “Toxic Exposures in the American Military” working group.

Elias and Patterson have attended several conferences as part of a combined grant from Wounded Warrior Project and Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors to learn about the unique health care needs of veterans.

“Many questions remain on the horizon in the area of veterans health,” VVA President John Rowan said. “It is essential that VHC and its members remain vigilant. One item that looms large is related to increased utilization by veterans of community health care providers. This in part is due to the VA’s establishment of the MISSION Act. While this concern has always existed, it is becoming greater over time. It lies in the fact that community health care providers know little if anything about the implications that exist for veterans because of their service era, duty locations, assignments, or possible toxic exposures.”

Organizational representatives made brief presentations on their projects and their efforts to improve on veterans health. TAPS is compiling data from family members about veterans who died due to toxic-exposure illnesses. TAPS noted that these illnesses are the second leading cause of death reported by family members and that by 2020 they may become the leading cause of death among veterans.

Partnership to Improve Patient Care is working to create principles for value-based health care to ensure special populations, such as veterans, are not financially penalized by policies currently in discussion that will have a significant impact on what treatments patients with disabilities can receive. A representative from Cerner spoke about its outreach efforts to bring stakeholders to the table as they prepare to develop and launch the new electronic health care record system in the VA and DoD. The National Grange spoke about its efforts to share health information with rural veterans. Some projects concentrated on basic research; others involved community action. Some concentrated on pharmaceutical solutions and their dangers; others were sociological.

“We brought together a wealth of interests and disciplines,” Dr. Shelton said.  “The challenge now is bringing all these diverse and powerful energies together. If we can do that—if we can be a forum for cross-pollination—we shall succeed beyond our wildest hopes.”

The VHC’s next inter-organizational meeting is scheduled for early fall.