WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) today announced that $1 million has been awarded to the Veterans Administration Healthcare System of Ohio (VISN 10) by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The funds were awarded to regional health care systems to improve services specifically designed for veterans in rural areas.
“Many Ohio veterans travel long distances to receive medical care,” said Brown, a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee. “This increase in funding for rural health clinics and services is a step in the right direction. I will continue to fight to improve access to health care for all Ohio veterans.”
These federal funds will be used to increase the number of mobile clinics, create new outpatient clinics, expand fee-based health care services, establish connections between federal and community health partners, increase the use of telemedicine programs, and fund new, developing health pilot programs.
More than six percent of Ohio’s veteran population lives in rural areas. The VA has begun a major rural veterans’ initiative to increase the health care services available to veterans in geographically remote areas. The Department created a 13-member committee to brief the VA Secretary on issues affecting rural veterans and has opened three rural health resource centers. Four new mobile health clinics serving nearly 25 predominantly rural counties across the nation were created as well as 10 new rural outreach clinics just this year. The Department also established 50 new mobile counseling centers.
