Vets look at health care options

By Bob Stuart

Published: August 12, 2008

WEYERS CAVE — Vietnam era veteran Michael St. Sauver feels more than the ache in his bad knee when he needs VA medical care.
Because the nearest VA facility is in Salem, a 90-minute ride away, St. Sauver feels the pain in his pocketbook, too.
“I can’t afford to drive to Salem,’’ said St. Sauver, who suffers from a case of diabetes so severe that he once went into a coma.
St. Sauver was among dozens of veterans who showed up Tuesday at the Weyers Cave Community Center to to learn more about veterans’ benefits and hear U.S. Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke, confirm plans for a veterans clinic in the Staunton-Augusta County area.
That clinic is one of three planned in Virginia. No timetable has been finalized for opening the facilities, Goodlatte said.
Medical care was the top issue on the minds of veterans Tuesday, Goodlatte said during the Veterans Fair.
Vets were updated on legislation affecting them and the addition of 2,100 caseworkers to process their claims.
The event featured representatives from agencies such as the Social Security Administration and colleges such as James Madison University and Blue Ridge Community College.
Opening the lines of communication is often a key in saving vets time and money, officials said.
Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Center Director Rick Sizemore offered an example.
He said a young female vet recently was traveling to Martinsburg, W.Va., from Staunton to get treatment for a hand injury.
“She asked if she could come to Woodrow Wilson,’’ Sizemore said. She underwent rehabilitation at the Fishersville state facility. “We saved her from driving to Martinsburg.”
Sizemore said he hoped Tuesday’s event would result in more stories like the one he shared.
Derryl Jarvis, of Verona, who served as an Army medic in Bosnia, was especially thankful for his VA medical care.
Jarvis underwent a liver transplant at the McGuire Veterans Hospital in Richmond in 2003.
“I want to help the VA any way I can,’’ Jarvis said.
That includes helping bring a VA clinic to the central Valley.
“It’s important to help the VA get the clinic in Augusta County for lab work and doctor visits,’’ he said.