2010-11-18 Veteran Advisory Committee Minutes

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Veterans Advisory Committee Page 10 November 18, 2010 get these eight additional patients admitted. They may or may not have partial co- payment for that care, but that would significantly reduce their out of pocket funding. The next part is the census at the nursing home has been low in October and the first part of November. They have been having about 79 patients, they do a lot of rehab type patients so they have a lot of discharges who go home, which is a good thing, however, it also makes it difficult on numbers. They began working with Hilo Medical Center on their Discharge Planning Committee which is helpful. Mr. Babiak said they would like to invite service organizations and their members to come in for a tour either individually or as a group. We'd also like to pre- register veterans for the veterans home facility. We can also contact veterans who have not taken advantage of the Veterans benefits programs, homeowner programs or claims for disabilities. There are also a lot of veterans who do not utilize the VA Health Care System. Their eligibility can be verified ahead of time, which would also facilitate admittance into the hospital and for rehabilitation. They also have the ability to do respite patients both in the nursing home and in the adult day health care program. He would like to get the names and email addresses for the different service organizations and obtain their approval to send information on a monthly basis. Ms. Brulee- Wilson asked Juan what percentage was or are veterans and what percentage are civilians. Mr. Babiak responded that 25% can be spouses of veterans and they are currently running about 15 to 20 %. We were at 93 patients and almost 23% were spouses. Presently we have three females that were veterans themselves and then the spouses. There are also two couples. Mr. Babiak responded to questions posed by Ms. Brulee- Wilson about the chapel, scheduling services and about meals at the facility. Mr. Babiak said pastors from different denominations can schedule services through Momi of their Recreation Department. ANNOUNCEMENTS Veterans Benefits — Website with Information Ms. Brulee- Wilson announced that the DAV website (Chairperson Fox is the DAV Chapter Commander) has some very important information relating to a lot of changes regarding veteran's benefits for the better. (Go to DAV.org, Chapter 9) If you have any questions, please call Chairperson Fox. Funeral Detail Ms. Brulee asked about funeral detail which was reported on during a Veterans Day Parade meeting. Mr. Wery said the lack of funding has meant that all of the support for burials that use to come from Honolulu, is now organized by the National Guard. They have a group that