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Massena veterans’ clinic working on more ‘veteran-centered’ care

Posted 11/14/11

MASSENA -- The North Country Veterans Clinic is moving toward providing a more “veteran-centered” care system. To that end, they have been expanding facilities and resources. Massena Memorial …

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Massena veterans’ clinic working on more ‘veteran-centered’ care

Posted

MASSENA -- The North Country Veterans Clinic is moving toward providing a more “veteran-centered” care system.

To that end, they have been expanding facilities and resources.

Massena Memorial Hospital has worked together with the Syracuse VA Medical Center since 1993, in bringing health, wellness and mental health services to the veterans of the North Country. MMH is part of the VA Healthcare Network in offering a Community Based Outpatient Clinic in St. Lawrence County.

“We are very pleased that the VA Medical Center in Syracuse has continued this partnership in offering the North Country Veterans Clinic. Massena Memorial Hospital has offered an excellent healthcare program for eighteen years to our veterans,” said hospital Chief Executive Officer Charles F. Fahd.

Each year since the North Country Veterans Clinic opened in 1993, the facility has served an increasing number of patients. The clinic sees approximately 400 patients a month for medical appointments and over 200 patients for mental health. The North Country Veterans Clinic has over 3,200 registered veterans for the clinic and did over 7,300 visits last year.

MMH’s veterans’ clinic is used as a model to establish other outreach for the Syracuse VA Medical Center, said Mark Brouillette, Senior Director of Ancillary Services. “We facilitate a meeting with area veteran service group representatives, St. Lawrence County Veterans Affairs office and Syracuse VA Medical Center.”

The clinic was established to improve access to medical services for those veterans living in the North Country. The North Country Veterans Clinic is staffed by MMH and funded by the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Syracuse.

The staff includes: Nurse Practitioner/Director Kathleen Lauzon, Physician Assistants David Tisdale and Nedlida Kibert; Nurse Practitioners Mara Bazdaric-Russell and Eleanor LaClair; Licensed Practical Nurses Jane Gallant, Janice Woodward and Cynthia Coleman; Brenda Paller, Health Unit Coordinator and Clerks Diane Cameron and Lorraine Keavany. Staff members for the Mental Health Clinic include Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner Kathy Green, along with three Clinical Social Workers Sheila Hamilton, Kathleen Mattis Cindy Babbit, and all LCSWs.

Nationwide the VA Health Care Service is adopting the Patient Aligned Care Team system of care.

The clinic is open Monday through Friday from 7:15 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. and closed on federal holidays. For more information or an application, call 769-4253.