VA Texas Valley Coastal Bend Health Care System (VCB)
Local VA hosts town hall in Corpus Christi
Mr. Reynaldo Leal, public affairs officer for VA Texas Valley Coastal Bend Health Care System concludes the presentation of the state of the health care system, prior to the questions and answer session of a VA town hall meeting, which took place Jan. 10, 2018, at the Regional Transportation Authority facility in Corpus Christi, Texas. (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs photo/Luis H. Loza Gutierrez)
VA Texas Valley Coastal Bend Health Care System (VATVCBHCS) hosted a town hall meeting January 10, 2018.
The town hall was aimed at soliciting constructive feedback from Veterans on how the health care system can improve operations in the Coastal Bend. A presentation of the state of the Health Care System was made along with an update on the status of the renovation and activation of the Corpus Christi Outpatient Clinic, which was significantly damaged by Hurricane Harvey, and is scheduled to reopen sometime in March of this year.
Mr. Joe Perez, the director of VA Texas Valley Coastal Bend Health Care System, fielded the majority of the questions asked by Veterans during the Town Hall. Mr. Perez said he was glad to see such an engaged Veteran community, and looked forward to addressing their concerns and suggestions.
| Mr. Joe Perez, the director of VA Texas Valley Coastal Bend Health Care System, addresses one of the several questions presented by one of the more than seven dozen local Veterans who attended the VA town hall meeting, which took place Jan. 10, 2018, at the Regional Transportation Authority facility in Corpus Christi, Texas. (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs photo illustration/Reynaldo Leal) |
“Feedback is so important to us as a health care system,” said Mr. Perez, “so I was pleased with the different topics that were brought up. This allows us to gauge how well our organizational goals and objectives align with the needs and concerns of our Veterans and their families.”
Mr. Perez added that town halls, which are conducted every year in the three major markets of the Coastal Bend, Rio Grande Valley and Laredo Sectors, are a great way to reaffirm his team’s commitment to the VA mission.
“I’m a Veteran,” Mr. Perez said. “I want every Veteran in the 20 counties we serve to know this mission is personal to me. We’re going to continue to improve, thanks in great part to their input.”
Mr. Donald Larson, Fleet Reserve Association (FRA) National President, echoed this sentiment in a social post on Facebook.
“Get over here, stand up and be heard,” he said. “These people are being paid to be here, and you (tax payers) pay their salary. It’s alright to tell them that they are doing a good job too!”
The official U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs event was co-hosted by the Nueces County Veterans Services Department.
“We’d like to thank Mr. Martin Longoria, and the staff at the Nueces County Veteran Services Department,” said Mr. Reynaldo Leal, public affairs officer for VA Texas Valley Coastal Bend Health Care System. “It’s thanks to the great collaborative effort from community partners like the NCVSD that we are able to host important functions such as this town hall, which help us better inform and serve our Veterans and their families.”
| Mr. Joe Perez, VA Texas Valley Coastal Bend Health Care System director, thanks Veterans and guests for attending the VA town hall meeting, which took place Jan. 10, 2018, at the Regional Transportation Authority facility in Corpus Christi, Texas. (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs photo/ Luis H. Loza Gutierrez) |
The town hall was attended by more than 100 people, which included more than a dozen Veteran Service Organization (VSO) representatives.
“It was a packed house. I think this is the largest crowd I’ve seen at one of our VA town hall so far,” said Mr. Timothy Rivera, who along with fellow VA employees, Mr. Gilberto Ontiveros and Mr. Hugo Martinez focused their efforts in filling out Veteran inquiry forms.
According to Mr. Leal the Veteran inquiry form serves as an informational tool and process that allows a Veteran to document a specific concern regarding a wide range of topics relating to VA services and benefits. Mr. Leal explained the Veterans wishing to complete and submit a Veteran inquiry form were escorted outside the boardroom for privacy and security reasons.
“Part of the Veteran inquiry process is obtaining the last four digits of the Veteran’s social security number, and sometimes the topics involve a medical condition or treatment of some kind; therefore, our employees are asked to escort them to a separate area so we can provide both more comfortable environment to share their concerns privately and guard their personal identifiable information (PII), which is protected under federal law,” said Mr. Leal.
