Veterans Administration (VA)-West Clinic Mission Statement

Placement

My placement is at the Veterans Administration (VA)-West Clinic which is an annex of the VA hospital. It is located at 1 Science Ct, Madison, WI.

History and Mission Statement The VA has been around since the settlement of English colonies when the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony were at war with the Pequot Indians, provided pensions for disabled soldiers. Through the years it expanded to include widows and orphans of veterans. Since that time, it has grown to be the most comprehensive Veteran’s health care system of any nation. (VAH, 2017) The mission statement is taken from the inaugural speech in 1861 where he said “With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right,

This branch owns and manages 128 national and 80 state cemeteries. In 1973 when the VCA took over the cemetery program, the VA has provided more 10.2 million headstones and markers to deceased veterans. (VAH, 2017) To break it down further, the VA West Clinic is part of the Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) which is divided into 21 areas. The clinic is VISN 12 which is called the VA Great Lakes Health Care System which includes Wisconsin, as well as parts of Illinois and Michigan. In this VISN there are eight medical centers, 38 outpatient clinics, one community service program, seven Community Based Outpatient clinics, of which West Clinic is part of, and finally 15 Vet Centers. (VISN 12: VA Great Lakes Health Care System, 2017) An overview on the local level, the director of the William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital and Clinics is Mr. John Rohrer. His chief of staff is Dr. Alan Bridges who manages 21 different departments including social work and mental health. Jane Ludwig, LCSW works under Dr. Bridges. She is the Chief of Social Work and Chaplin Services. Under Ms. Ludwig there are approximately 85 social workers covering areas of Mental Health, Addictive Disorders Treatment Program (ADTP), Homeless Program and Medical Social Work

Some of the things that a MSW can assist with are transportation, benefits, housing, nutrition, nursing home placement, and socialization to name a few. A diversity initiative currently being done to be more inclusive is changing paperwork, as well as the technology (electronic medical record), to reflect a more diverse population. For example, very little paperwork offers more than the standard check boxes asking about race. Black, White non-Hispanic, Latino, other. This excludes those who identify as more than one ethnicity. Also included in this is the standard male/female. This excludes people that identify as a different than their gender at birth. Another initiative to promote inclusivity is the Women’s Health Clinic was moved to the 3rd floor of the hospital. The reason that they chose to move this clinic to this location was they wanted it someplace where the female vets, who may have varied issues with men, did not have to walk through the whole hospital offering more