{"id":657529,"date":"2025-09-11T14:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T14:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=657529"},"modified":"2025-09-17T15:23:43","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T15:23:43","slug":"mobile-unit-brings-health-care-for-veterans-experiencing-homelessness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=657529","title":{"rendered":"Mobile unit brings health care for Veterans experiencing homelessness"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Friday mornings, a van from George E. Wahlen VA Medical Center<\/a> Homeless Program pulls up outside community shelters to meet Veterans experiencing homelessness.<\/p>\n

The mobile medical unit, managed by the Homeless and Justice Clinical Recovery Program and the Homeless Patient Aligned Care Team (H-PACT), offers a full range of clinic services, including blood draws, vaccines, prescriptions and referrals, as well as food bags and hygiene kits.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is basically everything I can do in a clinic,\u201d said Alissa Firmage, a nurse practitioner with H-PACT program. \u201cWe are a one-stop shop, and the goal is to serve about two Veterans per day, and 500 each year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Care that reaches Veterans where they are<\/h2>\n

For Veterans experiencing homelessness, getting to appointments can be out of reach. Without phones, transportation or a stable place to live, Veterans experiencing homelessness can feel cut off from care. The mobile medical unit removes those barriers by going directly to them.<\/p>\n

Dani Masi, a social worker, noted an increase in older Veterans facing difficulties.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are seeing more Vietnam Veterans who are struggling with health care costs, food and housing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Older Veterans often live on fixed incomes or disability benefits, making it difficult to keep up with rising rent and medical expenses. Isolation and lack of family or community support also increases the risk.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mobile medical unit has been such a gift and such a blessing,\u201d Masi added.<\/p>\n

One Veteran\u2019s story shows what\u2019s possible<\/h2>\n

Among them is 80-year-old Navy Veteran Tom Morrison who lost his apartment of 30 years and spent nights in parks before moving into a shelter. With support from the housing program, he now has an apartment again.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the van comes around, it helps me a lot,\u201d Morrison said. \u201cI do not have to go to the hospital. Every month or so, they will be checking my health. For the future, that is good for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Firmage said moments like that begin with trust.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe rapport we build just by giving out a hygiene kit or a snack bag is beyond what most Veterans experiencing homelessness expected that day,\u201d she said. \u201cIt sets the stage for us to engage with them for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

Connect with help<\/h2>\n

If you are a Veteran experiencing homelessness in Utah, contact VA Salt Lake City\u2019s Homeless Program <\/a>at 801-582-1565, ext. 2746.<\/p>\n

You can also contact the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans<\/a> at 1-877-4AID-VET (1-877-424-3838) to speak confidentially with a trained counselor 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Friday mornings, a van from George E. Wahlen VA Medical Center Homeless Program pulls up outside community shelters to meet Veterans experiencing homelessness. The mobile medical unit, managed by the Homeless and Justice Clinical Recovery Program and the Homeless Patient Aligned Care Team (H-PACT), offers a full range of clinic services, including blood draws, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":657500,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,410,1312],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-657529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-homeless","category-visn-19"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=657529"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657529\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":657530,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657529\/revisions\/657530"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/657500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=657529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=657529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=657529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}