Katy-area veterans will see expanded options for health care and services after President Donald Trump signed the VA MISSION Act of 2018 into law June 6. The law affects how the Department of Veterans Affairs Katy Outpatient Clinic and Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Houston operate. The new law appropriates $55 billion for the Department of Veterans Affairs to implement its requirements and fund day-to-day operations. The new law also provides $5.2 billion for the Choice program for one year, after which it will be retired, and remaining funding will go to the new Veterans Community Care Program. The program helps veterans use private medical care if they live 40 miles from a VA facility, would wait more than 30 days for an appointment or their medical needs cannot be met at a VA facility, said U.S. Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas. Demand for veterans services is increasing year-by-year throughout the Katy area as the war on terror moves through its seventeenth year. The VA, states, counties and nonprofits are working together to meet the needs of veterans in a variety of ways, including implementation of the VA MISSION Act. “It will transform the VA, but the veterans have been asking for this for quite some time,” McCaul said.

Improving access

The law allows the VA to contract with local medical providers to fill gaps in the VA system. It also establishes a process for VA facilities to be reviewed and closed, expanded or relocated. McCaul said the Katy facility will not be closed under this portion of the bill. He said he helped open the Katy VA to improve access for local veterans in 2013. VA records show the Katy- area veteran population is shrinking; however, more veterans seek services each year. In 2012, Harris County had 41,585 patients who were served at VA clinics. That number grew to 48,811 by 2016. Kevin Doffing, CEO of the Lone Star Veterans Association, also said the regional clinics are important. “Opening up a remote [clinic in Katy] within the last five years has really been an asset, and if you’ve ever tried to park at the [DeBakey facility], you can spend an hour and not find a spot,” Doffing said. It can take 45 minutes or more in light traffic to travel from downtown Katy to the DeBakey clinic in Houston. However, the Katy VA Outpatient Clinic can be reached in under 20 minutes. “[Veterans] often complain to me that they have to drive all the way to get to a VA facility to get medical care,” McCaul said. Dr. Aruna Gottamukala, Debakey’s associate chief of staff for ambulatory care, said the Katy clinic offers primary health care, mental health, audiology and optometry services. Gottamukala manages the Katy clinic. The VA partners with local providers to make accessing care easy for veterans, Gottamukala said. The VA is also working to better use  existing staff. “We are working to expand basic specialty services by training midlevel providers for medical specialty services,” Gottamukala said. She said it is challenging to treat veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injuries. Current-era veterans see more of those issues, but the VA continues to improve outcomes for them, she said. The clinic uses telecare to save patients travel time, Gottamukala said. Patients talk to medical staff from home or the outpatient clinic. “On basic medical issues like eyes and so forth and therapy, [telecare] has been a big help,” said Mike Mastrangelo, a member of Katy Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9182. “The entire trip [to Houston] is bad for morale.”

Working on improvements

Gottamukala said the VA clinic will keep expanding services but needs more space as staffing increases. The Katy clinic served 8,800 veterans in 2016, she said. That number will exceed 10,000 within three years. Doffing said the VA has improved since he left the military in 2008. He had metal in his foot from his time in service. He was told removing it would take two months to schedule. He said partnerships reducing waits is good. “I’d rather see people going to see a private practice doctor immediately than wait 120 days,” Doffing said. Marshall said wait times for veterans have decreased for health care. He added war on terror-era veterans come out of the military with requests for benefits in-process. “We used to see delays up to 60 days,” Marshall said. “Now they’re getting in two to three weeks of their registration dates so that has turned around a lot.” State Rep. Mike Schofield, R-Katy, said the state Legislature is working to improve Texas veterans services. State legislation is being developed on several issues, including suicide prevention, property tax exemptions and outreach programs for veterans. Gottamukala said she is glad the VA will be able to provide more options to veterans. “The burden is not off of the VA but rather reducing the burden from the veteran to keep them from having to travel all the way [to the DeBakey Center],” Gottamukala said.

Non-VA resources

Organizations throughout the Katy area work to help veterans get services and fill needs the VA was not designed for, said Nicole Peele, program director at Amazing Soldiers, a local nonprofit. Peele said the Katy area has support organizations for veterans, including Catholic Charities and The Wounded Warrior Foundation. County veterans offices also help veterans obtain VA benefits, as do the Texas Veterans and Texas Workforce commissions. Texas counties help veterans apply for VA benefits, said Dwight Marshall, Fort Bend County veterans services officer. Counties help veterans apply for benefits, including medical, education, homebuying and other programs. Marshall said county offices also assist with applying for referrals to the TVC and TWC. “Veterans can get services here rather than traveling to the VA in Houston,” Marshall said. Waller County Veterans Services helped 211 veterans in 2016, according to Veterans Services Officer Gary Nemac. Fort Bend County reported serving 618 veterans that year, while Harris served 48,811 veterans. Schofield said another improvement for veterans are veterans courts. These special courts help former military members whose experiences in war have made it difficult for them to avoid legal complications, whether that is due to PTSD or some other issue. “[Veterans courts are] definitely helping,” Marshall said. “Our court outreach specialist runs that program, and he’s been having a lot of success.” Schofield said many local employers support veterans by offering a hiring preference, which was made legal by the Texas  Legislature in 2015. The law was updated in 2017 to improve sharing veterans preference information. “This last session in 2017, we passed a bill ... to allow the [TVC] and the [TWC] to gather information on what private businesses had decided to grant veterans preferences in hiring so they can disseminate that to the veterans,” Schofield said.