EXAM ROOM ON WHEELS: Cleveland VA seeks out veterans to deliver healthcare

There are roughly 134,000 veterans in Northeast Ohio. They don’t all choose and aren't always able to make their health a top priority. As part of News 5 Anchor Rob Powers's ongoing series, Your Service, he learned there’s a new effort to bring healthcare to veterans who may be traveling a bumpy road.

The Cleveland VA Medical Center recently launched a Mobile Medical Unit (MMU) to serve as a lifeline. It’s an exam room on wheels that moves from location to location.

“I can bring the appointment to you,” Robert Jones told Powers. Jones is a registered nurse, driver, and confidant; he does it all. It starts with actively seeking out veterans.

There’s some strategy involved in that. Veterans may be on the street or in a shelter or facility. Navy veteran Jesse Markko served on submarines and told Powers having health care on wheels makes it easier to take time for his health. He hoped in doing so, he could lead by example.

“If we can help the next guy in there who wouldn’t normally take that moment to go, it’s a blessing for me in return,” he said.

Kevin Burke is an Army veteran who appreciated the convenience of having the MMU roll up to help in several ways. It offers physical health, mental health, and social services, all part of a total health care package.

“In ways you could never imagine, these people help me,” he said.

Gary Abrahamsen

More than 35,000 veterans are experiencing homelessness. Hundreds are here in Ohio. Many can’t or won’t seek out health care. It’s an issue Secretary of Veteran Affairs Denis McDonough said he’s committed to working on.

McDonough visited the Cleveland VA Medical Center to hold a town hall with veterans, on Wednesday. Afterward, News 5 was the only television station there when McDonough took questions from journalists. After hearing concerns and problems veterans had been facing for the previous 90 minutes, he knew their trust had been broken.

“You can lose trust in a heartbeat,” he said. “And it takes a long time to build it back. We take it deadly seriously.”

McDonough said the VA has been working to get homeless veterans into permanent, not transitional housing. It set a goal of housing 38,000 veterans each year since 2022. So far, he said the agency has exceeded that goal every time. McDonough said services like the MMU in Northeast Ohio go a long way toward rebuilding that trust.

“It is a manifestation of that effort to build trust with those veterans, to bring care to them. To say, ‘we care so much about you and what you’ve done for this country that we’re bringing our care to you.’”

McDonough recalled one homeless outreach coordinator who told him they spoke with a veteran more than 70 times before they came into the center for services. It’s that kind of commitment he said will build back that trust.

He detailed a housing-first approach to serving our nation’s veterans. The Secretary said once a veteran is in that permanent housing, other issues they may be facing, like substance abuse, mental health, employment, or involvement with the justice system, become more manageable. That’s why, he said, it’s so encouraging to see initiatives like the MMU get out into communities to meet veterans where they are.

At the MMU stop outside Stella Maris, Navy Veteran Johnny Sims was among those hoping to lead by example.

“If I come down, they feel more comfortable,” he told Rob. “They ask me what went on, I tell them, and they’ll be anxious to come down themselves.”

There are 25 of these mobile units across the country, seeking out veterans who, for whatever reason, need this unit and these people in their lives.

“I used to tell people, ‘You can’t love a job, you can only love people,’” Jones said. “I’m starting to find that maybe I can love people and a job.”

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