FEINGOLD LAUDS VA DECISON TO OPEN BROWN COUNTY VET CENTER

The Appearance of Political, Product or Service Advertising on this Network is for Informational Purposes Only and Should not be Construed as an Endorsement.

Latest Videos

Our Links

VFW WI Districts

Big Ten Conference

VFW WebCOM Network

News and Events

Veterans Resources

Veterans Coalition

Military WebCOM Network

Welcome to the VFW Department of Wisconsin

VFW WI Commander:
Gary Erickson

Quick Links

Department of Wisconsin - News & Events

Links of Interest

Posted at 09:05 AM on Friday, July 11, 2008 by Wisconsin VFW News

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) is hailing an announcement by the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) that it will open an additional Vet Center in Brown County, Wisconsin. Late last year, Feingold led an effort by the Wisconsin congressional delegation urging the VA to open a Vet Center in Brown County. The VA’s announcement comes at a time when approximately 40 percent of Wisconsin veterans do not live close enough to a Vet Center to obtain needed counseling on a regular basis.

“I am very pleased that significantly more Wisconsin veterans and their families will have access to assistance when this Vet Center opens in Brown County,” Feingold said. “During this time of incredible strain on members of the Armed Forces, it is extremely important that we provide support to veterans coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan and their families while we continue to provide services to the generations of veterans who served in previous wars. These veterans are struggling with alarming rates of post traumatic stress disorder and other mental health concerns, yet most never seek care. This Vet Center will conduct outreach and offer counseling to ensure veterans are getting the health care and benefits they need in order to readjust to civilian life."

Vet Centers provide counseling in a non-medical setting to complement the services provided in VA medical centers and outpatient clinics. Currently, Wisconsin only has two Vet Centers, both in the southern part of the state. States with similar veteran populations have more than double this number of Vet Centers. Maryland, for example, has fewer veterans than Wisconsin and is one fifth its size but will soon have seven Vet Centers. Massachusetts is about one eighth the size of Wisconsin, and has only a slightly larger veteran population, but it has seven Vet Centers. While an additional Vet Center in Brown County will help to better serve the over 469,000 veterans who live in Wisconsin, an additional center in La Crosse County, which Senator Feingold and the Wisconsin delegation also requested, would ensure that roughly 82 percent of Wisconsin veterans reside within an hour’s drive of a Vet Center.

“While I am pleased an additional center will be built in Wisconsin, I will continue to work with the VA until all Wisconsin veterans and their families have access to a Vet Center,” Feingold said. “For all our veterans have given to our country, we should be constantly working to make sure they have adequate access to the care and benefits they have more than earned.

0 Comments | Post Comment | Email This

Previous Page | Home | Next Page