Feb 19, 2009 10:53 pm US/Central
Expanding Private Medical Care For Veterans
(WCCO)
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The vast majority of veterans are still being treated at Veteran's Affairs facilities. For instance, the VA Medical Center in Minneapolis handled 593,000 out-patient visits last year and another 8,000 in-patient admissions.
CBS
There are 24 million military veterans in the United States. Current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have made many Americans ask if we are serving the veterans as well as they have served us. Project HERO, a program launched in the Twin Cities three months ago, is an effort to do that.
Marine Corporal Danny Glassic injured his neck 20 years ago while serving in the military.
"I was partially paralyzed from the chest down for a couple months," said Glassic.
Amazingly, he bounced back after therapy and was redeployed during the Gulf War. His assignment was to guard the U.S. Airbase in Kuwait City.
While the tour of duty eventually ended, the pain of his injury did not. It then flared out of control last fall.
"At that time my arm was going numb, tingling. It felt like somebody hit me in the funny bone with a sledge hammer," Glassic said.
"We are going to have to replace, essentially, the damaged discs that he has in his neck," said neurosurgeon Mahmoud Nagib. "And we'll be replacing his discs [with] a cage."
Glassic is one of a growing number of veterans whose medical care is being contracted out to the private sector. The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) picks up the tab through Project HERO.
"We do cover 30 percent of the enrolled veteran population within the entire country," said national program manager Greg Eslinger.
He said while the VHA medical system is building up its own infrastructure, this is a great way to reduce wait times for those in need of care now.
"The veterans have to be seen within 30 days," Eslinger said. "And [they] actually have their appointments made [for them] and these companies coordinate all of that for the veteran."
Abbott Northwestern Hospital has been treating about a hundred veterans a month through the program. The payments are roughly along the lines of Medicare reimbursement, which means it is not very profitable to physicians, so the decision to participate went beyond Abbott's hospital walls.
"Abbott Northwestern's medical staff is made up of a lot of private practice physicians," said hospital president Jeff Peterson. "And a lot of this care is provided in the physicians' office and may or may not end up in the hospital. I want to congratulate all of them and thank them. They stepped right up and said this is the right thing to do and we need to be part of it."
Glassic's surgeon echoed that sentiment.
"My group is Neurosurgical Associates. We are nine members here," said Nagib. "No exceptions. They are all eager to help."
The concept is to provide first-rate comprehensive care. Glassic said he's been very impressed with Project HERO and with Nagib, the doctor assigned to his case.
"To be honest with you, I was shocked," he said. "The people that I've talked who have gone to [Dr. Nagib] say he's the best in the country. If anybody's gonna be poking around in my neck I want it to be him."
The vast majority of veterans are still being treated at Veteran's Affairs facilities. For instance, the VA Medical Center in Minneapolis handled 593,000 out-patient visits last year and another 8,000 in-patient admissions.
However, if there is a rapid troop withdrawal from Iraq, the network of private care services is in place and growing to meet the need. It's a notion that makes Glassic proud to have been a Marine all over again.
"[Veterans] need to get the treatment they deserve," said Glassic. "Mainly because they've given up so much. They're without their families for a year, two years at a time. And [if they] come back a not get the treatment? All they want to do is to get back to work and serve our country in a different way."
Project HERO covers virtually every field of care from orthopedics to obstetrics including dental care and mental health.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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