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March 6 Sioux Falls Veterans Town Hall & More

Per VA Health Care System please contact Shirley Redmond with any questions
605-333-6889 or Shirley.Redmond@va.gov

We encourage you to join us next Tuesday, March 6, for several special events at the VA Medical Center. Flyers are attached in case you have not previously received or seen these.

VISN 23 Director, Janet Murphy, will be our special guest for the town hall at 5:00 PM. During this town hall, Timothy Pendergrass, our new Chief of Staff, will be introduced and Vietnam Veterans in the audience will receive special recognition as the 50th Anniversary Commemoration continues. This community meeting is an opportunity to share your thoughts and ask questions of VA leadership from the VISN, Health Care System, and the Dakotas Regional Office. Please feel free to invite Veterans and their families and anyone interested in Veterans to attend.

We also encourage Veterans and their families to visit the benefits fair preceding the town hall to learn more about VA's unique care and benefits.
• If you are a Veteran already receiving care at VA, thank you for choosing to come here for your care. You can help other Veterans by sharing your experiences with them and encouraging them to get enrolled. Help us get the word out that VA offers an expansive medical benefits package that includes preventive care, outpatient and inpatient diagnostics/treatments along with extended care services and mental health inpatient and outpatient care.

• Suicide prevention is VA's highest priority. Although on average, 20 Veterans die by suicide each day, only 6 of the 20 were recent uses of VA health care services. Help support Veterans of all eras by encouraging them to enroll for VA care.

• We especially encourage Vietnam Veterans who are not enrolled to get acquainted with VA. We've learned many do not realize they are eligible and are not aware Veterans who served in the Republic of Vietnam "boots on the ground" between January 9, 1962 and May 7, 1975 have an automatic eligibility. This is based on their presumed exposure to Agent Orange and other herbicides used in support of military operations. There are several diseases also presumed to be service connected for these Veterans including diabetes, Parkinson's disease, ischemic heart disease, respiratory cancers, prostate cancer, and many more. Veterans are asked to bring a copy of their DD214 to expedite the process of enrolling for care. Veterans Benefits staff will also be able to assist in filing for a service-connected disability for one or more of the illnesses mentioned.

• In addition, a national Women Veteran Athletes exhibit will make its debut here on March 6 from 4:00-7:00 PM in the front foyer of the medical center. We're excited to be one of 10 VAs in the country to host this exhibit during Women's History Month.. Please take a few minutes to view it while you're here. The exhibit showcases 10 women Veteran athletes, featuring pictures of them taken by renowned woman Veteran photographer, Stacy Pearsall, as well as Veterans' short biographies. This exhibit is shared to help make women Veterans feel more welcome and recognized, to increase respect and understanding given to women Veterans, to enhance the public's awareness of the service, diversity, and resilience of women Veterans, and to honor them during March 2018 Women's History Month, the theme of which is "She Persisted."

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