West Texas VA ‘Moving Forward’ with in-person appointments
The West Texas VA Medical Health Center is moving forward and gearing up to resume in-person appointments beginning Monday. The West Texas VA has implemented a three-part plan that will allow all locations included in the WTVAHC catchment area to open up with the safety of their staff and the veterans they serve at the forefront of the plan.
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic West Texas VA teams, along with VHA, have been monitoring the situation and formulating a plan. Over the past few weeks in anticipation of the Moving Forward plan, daily meetings have been taking place allowing VA to analyze the number of COVID-19 cases in the community – veterans and non-veterans – and the status of the healthcare systems in the area in order to properly prepare. The WTVAHCS provides care for 33 counties across Texas, along with Lee County in New Mexico.
“We are blessed to be in one of the areas in the country that has fairly low prevalence of this pandemic,” Jason Cave, West Texas VA Health Care System Director, said. “The planning for when and how we could get back into the business of serving veterans face to face-to-face really began at day one of the pandemic … we don't want this to interrupt the care that we are providing to our veterans.” According to Cave, Phase One of the Moving Forward plan begins with primary care teams and specialty services booking up to 25 percent of a clinic's capacity. This includes primary
care, mental health, dental, ophthalmology, physical therapy, occupational therapy, prosthetics, dietary, audiology, radiology, lab, cardiopulmonary, whole health, and several others.
“As we've been watching across our catchment area, the overall prevalence of COVID-19 has remained fairly low for a sustained period of time. That is one of the main points that had to be met in order for us to begin re-opening,” Cave said.
The ability to test and test when needed is another of the key points in re-opening plans across the state and across the VHA system. Testing capabilities have been present at the local West Texas VA for quite some time now and continue to procure additional capabilities. Safety precautions and mitigation factors – face masks, sanitizing stations, screening criteria, physical spacing arrangements, and extra cleaning - are also on the forefront of the plan.
“Tele-health, home care and virtual care modalities have been a big focus for several years before the pandemic hit for VHA; one of the things that we’ve observed is the pandemic gave a lot of people who may not have given those modalities a try in the past, the extra emphasis they needed to use virtual modalities as a way to maintain social distancing,” Cave said.
In line with federal, state, and local guidance WTVAHCS’S first priority is the safety and well-being of Veterans and staff. During reopening, VA clinics will prioritize in-person appointments of a procedural nature and associated outpatient services, when those services cannot be conducted through tele-health options.
“All the tele-health and virtual measures that were utilized during the pandemic will remain in place, even after the restrictions are lifted. We want to offer a variety of options for veterans to choose what works best for them so that they can have the care they need when and where they want it,” he said.
This Moving Forward plan will continue in two-week increments, increasing the number of in-person appointments by 25 percent for each two-week period, until full capacity is achieved. As the process continues, WTVAHCS will closely monitor all aspects of the delivery of care to ensure a safe environment is maintained for Veterans, staff, and visitors.
“We want to do this in a gradual, safe, phased approach that will allow us to continue to monitor, along with our team and our community partners, the overall prevalence rate. We are going to be as flexible and agile as possible with this plan,” Cave said.
While the day to day operations may have been altered due to the pandemic, there have been several positive impacts that have come out of this unprecedented time. According to Cave, the leveraging of technology during this time has been another advancement in forming and maintaining connections with veterans in rural areas. Tele-townhalls have offered an opportunity to receive feedback from veterans and those served by West Texas VA. Tele-work is another area that opened up new avenues for employees during this time.
“If we can meet the needs of our veterans using this technology in a different form of healthcare delivery format there is no reason all that needs to be switched back to the way life was - like flipping a switch,” Cave said. “We are really trying to keep the best practices and the positive things that were learned during this, and stay with those going forward.”
As the Move Forward plan kicks off Monday, Cave and the staff at West Texas VA remind the community that there will be added precautions in place, including reduced entry points at the local facility and screenings that will allow for a safe, orderly, protective environment for all entering the facility. Patience from the community is greatly encouraged and appreciated as things move forward. Those who are able to call ahead and schedule an appointment are encouraged to do so. This will allow the ability to plan and ensure social distancing is maintained at all appointment times. The help of the community is a vital piece in the Moving Forward plan and is much appreciated.
“This pandemic has offered an opportunity – especially for me as a new director at West Texas VA – to work with community leaders in a way that has allowed us to form relationships that may have taken longer to form otherwise,” Cave said. “We all know that with that spirit of service that happens in disasters and catastrophes people come together and you get to see the best in people. The selflessness, the dedication, the honor and commitment to the mission and I have to say some of that has truly been awe-inspiring.”