The scandal at the Walter Reed military hospital in Washington, D.C., opened the nation's eyes and focused people in the Ozarks on the care that veterans get here.
At the Veterans Administration clinic in Mount Vernon, patients said Monday that the problem is not so much a matter of quality care but rather one of access to a full range of services.
Watch my KY3 News @ 10 report HERE.
Senator Kit Bond toured the Mount Vernon clinic Monday. He said there's no "magic bullet" to fixing the travel situation for Ozarks veterans. Many drive over an hour to the clinic in Mount Vernon for routine check-ups. But for surgeries, veterans have to travel to Fayetteville, Arkansas -- which can be up to a 3 hour trip for some. Vietnam veteran John Evans said he had to make a 5-hour haul to Little Rock, Arkansas for advanced surgery to treat his prostate cancer.
Still, Senator Bond said that according to figures from the VA, there's not enough veterans in the Ozarks to warrant their own hospital.
Doris Cassidy, assistant director of the VA Medical Center in Fayetteville, said the Arkansas VA hospital serves about 145,000 veterans. Cassidy said studies have shown there are only 30,000 veterans in the Springfield area that could use a hospital. She said those demographic numbers aren't high enough.
But Cassidy did tell the KY3 Political Notebook that there are plans in the works for a VA clinic in Branson. She said a business plan has been drawn up to build a clinic in Branson.
"The Secretary of the VA must approve it and he will announce it when it is approved," said Cassidy.
But she said she believes approval of the clinic is likely and could happen within the next year.
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