Around two dozen people attended a town hall at the Veterans Memorial Museum in Chehalis on Wednesday, Aug. 6, organized by U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs (WDVA) and Lewis County Veterans Advisory Board officials.
Attendees included Lewis County veterans along with state Reps. Peter Abbarno, R-Centralia, and Ed Orcutt, R-Kalama, Lewis County Commissioners Lindsey Pollock and Scott Brummer, and Chehalis Mayor Tony Ketchum.
Staff members from the office of U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Skamania, were also in attendance to answer questions about what was happening at the federal level.
During the question and answer period, the main concern voiced by veterans and officials in attendance still revolved around the distances they have to travel to get VA medical
since the South Sound VA Clinic in Chehalis was closed in 2021 for budgetary reasons.
The VA Puget Sound Health Care System cited "prohibitive costs” as the reason for refusing to renew the clinic’s contract.
This clinic’s closure left veterans who call Lewis County home with multiple-hour commutes in some cases to access VA medical care and testing in either Olympia, Longview, Seattle or Portland.
Additionally, complaints were also made about a lack of communication between different VA clinics and doctors, leading to frustration as veterans get passed around from doctor to doctor.
To help address some of these issues, which are occurring nationwide, many nonprofits have stepped in to help — such as Veterans Journey Forward in Chehalis.
“We’re doing what’s called peer counseling. We have a VSO (veterans service officer) who’s literally right below us right now, who is working overtime by an hour,” Veterans Journey Forward Director Jesse Lloyd said. “... If anybody has a problem with veterans services in any way, shape or form — getting into housing, VA disability, medical — let us know. It is very rare that we run into a problem we cannot fix, assist with or help with. And if we don’t have the answer, we find it.”
He added since January, Veterans Journey Forward has assisted local veterans with attaining an estimated $1.5 million in back pay.
“Just through our VSO, that’s not even peer services and all the case management,” Lloyd said.
With the help of Veterans Memorial Museum Executive Director Chip Duncan, Lloyd, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, started Veterans Journey Forward after dealing with mental health issues in the service and watching a fellow Marine also struggle with mental health — which sadly ended in suicide.
“Jesse and I started the Veterans Journey Forward program simply because there weren't a lot of things for veterans here in Lewis County,” Duncan said.
Veterans Journey Forward also works closely with the Lewis County Veterans Advisory Board. Veterans Advisory Board member George Dodd, himself a U.S. Navy veteran, invited local veterans to attend advisory board meetings and get more involved to help get better services and benefit access.
The Lewis County Veterans Advisory Board meets on the first Wednesday of every month starting at 11 a.m. inside the county commissioner chambers at the Historic Lewis County Courthouse — located at 351 NW North St. in Chehalis.
Meetings are also livestreamed on Zoom with meeting links published in the advisory board meeting agendas available on the county’s website at https://tinyurl.com/ztsz8jvr.
“You don’t have to be a board member to come and listen,” Dodd said. “It’s really highly recommended that you come, because we want to get that input of things that we can do to better serve the veterans of the community here in Lewis County.”
According to Dodd, the county is currently contracting with Catholic Community Services of Western Washington to provide free rides to veterans in East Lewis County or other rural areas.
While the service isn’t daily, Dodd said it could still be used to help schedule medical appointments.
“So no veteran should say, ‘I’m in east county and I can’t get to my appointment.’ Catholic Community Services will go out to Packwood, pick you up, take you to American Lake, stay with you at American Lake and take you automatically home — and there’s no charge to the veteran,” said Dodd. “We are one of the few veterans advisory boards that provide that service.”
He said that Catholic Community Service staff needed at least a few days' advance notice though, if not a week, in order to give their drivers time to prepare. Veterans interested in using Catholic Community Service rides can contact the Lewis County Veterans Advisory Board to sign up for one.
Representing the WDVA was WDVA Outreach Program Coordinator Leland Cooper, and the VA was VA Benefits Administration representative J’myle Koretz — both also veterans who came from Olympia.
Joining the town hall later was VA recreational therapist Trevor Miller, who came from Portland.
While they did cover how to access a litany of services and benefits through both the VA and WDVA, Cooper, Koretz and Miller all made comments concerning the traffic in their commute and the time it took to get to Chehalis.
“Let me just say, I really appreciate the Washington Department of Veterans Affairs and the federal department coming in. The information was fantastic,” Abbarno said. “I think today still does magnify the problem that we don’t have enough access. Traffic is bad. We’ve heard two or three times how hard it is to get to Seattle or Portland.”
Orcutt echoed Abbarno’s sentiments for the need for more services available locally since the South Sound VA Clinic’s closure.
“What we heard tonight was a lot of ways to get connected to the services, but didn’t really address how you deliver the services on the ground,” Orcutt said. “How do we get them to where the people are? How do we get them to a local doctor rather than going to Olympia? That’s what our focus is, what our work is going to be and has been, is trying to replace what’s been lost. I’ve been out to Packwood; I know what it’s like to drive out there.”
Both Brummer and Pollock were also in concurrence with Abbarno and Orcutt, as were many of the veterans in attendance.
At the federal level, Gluesenkamp Perez has been advocating for more federal funding to rural area. However, according to one of her staffers, District Director Sarah Kohout, federal funding isn’t returning anytime soon.
“We haven’t gotten any indication from the VA that they’re going to return that clinic,” Kohout said.
She added recently they’ve heard more veterans in rural areas are losing transportation options too, as recent reclassifications have happened at the federal level changing some communities from a “highly rural” to a “rural” classification.
Because of this, not only are rural counties like Lewis County losing out on access to certain veterans benefits, but even some federal grant funding for roads.
Kohout also urged any veterans struggling with access to benefits or care to reach out to Gluesenkamp Perez’s office.
“We can offer case work services, so if you’re in a log jam and you can’t get through, please reach out to our office. We really want to be helpful. We have a member of our team (and) that’s one of the main parts of his job, to bug the VA and DVA to try to get through,” Kohout said. “We don’t know what’s happening unless people reach out to us.”
To contact Gluesenkamp Perez’s office, visit https://gluesenkampperez.house.gov/contact or call 360-695-6292.
For more information on the services provided through the WDVA, email Cooper at LelandC@dva.wa.gov or call 360-472-3879.
To get in contact with Koretz, schedule either an in-person or phone call appointment with him on the VA’s website at https://va.my.site.com/VAVERA/s/.
To learn more about the Lewis County Veterans Advisory Board, email Dodd at george.dodd@lewiscountywa.gov or call 360-740-1417.
For more information on Veterans Journey Forward and the services it provides, visit its website at https://www.veteransjourneyforward.org/.
