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Friday, April 18, 2008
Dayton VA, base to create new transition center
By Margo Rutledge Kissell
Staff Writer
Thursday, April 17, 2008
DAYTON — The Dayton VA Medical Center and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base signed an agreement Thursday, April 17, to create a new Veterans Affairs/Department of Defense Transition Center that officials believe will streamline the process of military personnel moving from one health care system to the other.
It will be located inside the Wright-Patterson Medical Center in a space that will be renovated using $250,000 to $300,000, said Guy Richardson, director of the VA Medical Center.
The agreement was signed at the VA Medical Center by Richardson and Air Force Col. Andrew Monteiro, who is commander of the 88th Medical Group and oversees the base’s medical center.
The transition center, slated to open Oct. 1, will be staffed primarily by VA personnel and will be open to anyone separating or retiring from the military.
“This transition center will also benefit the thousands of guard and reserve members who are transitioning to the VA every single year,” Monteiro said.
The new transition center will eliminate “much of the duplication of efforts and prevent the members from having to go between two different facilities on opposite sides of this city,” he added.
Richardson noted that while the transition center will make it more convenient for those stationed at the base, the Dayton VA Medical Center at 4100 W. Third St. will continue to assist any transitioning military personnel as well.
The transition center will house four exam rooms, a conference center and private offices for counseling. Services will include veteran benefits counseling and classes, enrollment and counseling for VA health care services, case management and consultation for veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, and assistance for service members pending physical evalution boards.
Eventually, it also will include Compensation and Pension examinations for those injured during their service and a single physical “separation examination” for DoD and VA disability evaluation — something the Dole/Shalala Wounded Warrior Commission recommended.
Tell us: What do you think about this planned transition center?
