I joined the military in 1969.

I'm a Vietnam vet.

Some years it was Heavier fighting than others, like the tet season, you know.

That's when it was really fighting because, we were deactivating, trying to get out of there.

And, and they were throwing everything at us but the kitchen sink.

A lot of vets came back with mental issues and a lot of them came back with you know substance abuse issues.

There's been a struggle some time, becaue I struggle with substance abuse.

You know, and, I've been fighting that for years, on and off, on and off.

But I, you know, I pray to my higher power that this times is the last time because, you know, like I said, I'm not getting any younger and I have a lot of health issues going on with me.

Homelessness.

I've been, you know, in and out of that, that phase maybe over ten years on and off, you know.

So individuals experiencing homelessness in the community, as well as veterans often utilize health care through kind of emergent means.

So they go to the emergency room more often for non-emergent care.

And what that does is it fragments their care.

And then when they have crises, they end up in the hospital a lot quicker.

The barriers that the veterans experience because of homelessness mainly, or lack of transportation and lack of communication.

And by that I mean cell phones, computers, those types of things.

And then a lack of address.

If you don't have an address, then you're unable to receive the medications that the VA may send.

They don't have a support system either.

So then nobody can bring them to their appointments.

So they really are very isolated and alone.

In their medical care.

When you see HPAC what that stands for is homeless patient aligned care team.

So it's the patient line care team portion is the primary care model that the VA uses to kind of provide wrap around services to veterans and primary care, but the homeless portion of it is a specialty primary care, because we offer different services and more incorporated care coordination between the mental health, housing and social work.

All of the HPACs nationwide provide open access Walk-In hours, and that's at least 40 to 50% of our patient care is provided through the flexible appointment times.

So veterans who don't have phones, they can just show up during that time and know that they'll be seen.

The other way we address those barriers is that with the transportation piece, the mobile medical unit goes to them She comes to where I'm at.

You know, stuff like, to check my vitals, check my medicine, make sure that, I have enough medication to last.

And, mainly do most, most of the stuff that they would do at the hospital mainly, you know.

We take the care to them.

So that eliminates some of the barriers of persons, veterans coming to get care, especially rural veterans, especially veterans that may be experiencing challenges, mental health challenges or financial challenges.

We can bring that care to them and help them feel connected with the services that they deserve.

So the telehealth is really added kind of a rapid access component to our outreach, because I can't always be there on the medical unit.

So by having the video capabilities through the technology that the nurses and the peer support bring to the veteran, I can provide same day, same time assessments.

Our synchronous telehealth program is the backbone of our mental health.

So mental health is one of our strongest programs that we have.

And they use synchronous telehealth for that.

And thats video.

So they can see their provider their provider can see them.

We also elevate this type of care and specialty by using attachments like a stethoscope.

Otoscope.

So a veteran can receive a comprehensive exam anywhere they are.

As long as we have the connection we can, we can get them evaluated and looked at by their provider.

HPACT in general gives you a bird's eye view.

I mean, our goal is to see the whole person, the whole environment that you're dealing with.

And by having telehealth and video in their environment, we're able to provide that level of assessment that I could not provide in the clinic.

So I'm very excited to be able to have the video on the mobile medical unit to do that.

A lot of what we do too, is to maintain their housing once they get it, because homelessness is not a once and done kind of thing.

It can be very relapsing for people throughout their lifetimes.

So if we're able to keep them connected in mental health care and medical care after they get housed through telehealth services, through outreach services, then we decrease the likelihood that they'll be homeless again to.

Things are looking up due to this vans , my nurse here, and and the VA in general, and you know so overall, you know I'm I'm thankful to the VA and to people like you all that comes out and, you know, take time with the vets and try to understand what they're problem and see we all can find some solution to it.