SAN ANTONIO — Thursday, new MISSION Act rules rolled out, allowing for veterans to use community-based clinics when necessary in order to provide care in a timely manner. The act also aims to improve care across the system.
South Texas Veterans Health Care System set up a command center to handle any issues on June 6, when the program was being rolled out. Personnel answered calls from clinics and tried to get ahead of any potential issues.
Under the new guidelines, veterans can use in-network community-based clinics for care if the wait time for a primary care or mental health care visit is more than 20 days, or for a specialty care visit is more than 28 days. They can also do so if drive time for primary or mental health care is more than 30 minutes, or for specialty care is more than an hour.
But the Act also has other priorities, including reinforcing VA infrastructure, hiring additional staff, and recruitment and retention.
"The MISSION act is not an attempt to replace the VA or outsource the VA to the community," Medical Center Director Christopher Sandles said. "There are other provisions in this law that are going to let us expand the VA footprint. We always want veterans to choose VA. We’re gonna do everything we can- hiring additional staff, expanding care locations, you’re gonna see face-lifts throughout the organization, to let veterans know our healthcare is here to stay- we want them to choose us. But in the event that they can’t get that timely we want to make sure they get it timely and our community providers can help us do that."
For help with community care related questions, veterans can call 210-949-3850.
To find applicable clinics, click here.
To learn more about the MISSION Act, click here.