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ATLAS helps to keep veterans strong through telehealth

Meadville Tribune - 9/16/2021

Sep. 16—LINESVILLE — Providing support and medical resources is crucial for veterans who live in rural areas like northwestern Pennsylvania with the COVID-19 pandemic still ongoing and winter weather coming, according to officials of the Erie VA Medical Center.

ATLAS, a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) telehealth medical care program, has been on a trial run at Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 7842 of Linesville since February.

ATLAS, which stands for Accessing Telehealth through Local Area Stations, allows veterans to be seen for services that don't require hands-on exams without having to travel to the Erie VA Medical Center or outpatient clinics in Meadville or Ashtabula, Ohio.

The ATLAS site uses a large private videoconferencing booth to meet with their VA provider virtually using VA Video Connect, the administration's secure videoconferencing technology.

Veterans schedule appointments for the ATLAS site at Linesville through the Erie VA Medical Center.

Erie VA officials hosted an open house Wednesday at the Linesville VFW to explain services offered through the ATLAS program and answer questions.

There are about 21,000 veterans in Crawford, Erie, Venango, Warren and McKean counties in Pennsylvania plus Ashtabula, Ohio, that are served by the Erie VA Medical Center, according to John Gennaro, the center's director. However, not many rural veterans are taking advantage of the ATLAS site.

"It's not just for counseling, but veterans can see their physician for routine primary care, have behavioral health appointments and vision impairment services or follow up procedures," Gennaro said. "We've had tremendous support to make sure this site in Linesville is an access point."

When the site opened in February it was operating on a three-days-per-week basis, but now is up to Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

"We're trying to get the word out about ATLAS services to veterans through govDelivery email messages, direct mailings and the open house," Gennaro said.

Dr. Gregory Murray, a physician with the VA'sCrawford County Clinic in Meadville, said the ATLAS system can be a great way to help older veterans get care without having to travel far.

"It can be really helpful to a lot of veterans because transportation can be difficult," he said. "We can do followup visits on chronic conditions or look at things like a rash or a bite."

There's also staff help at ATLAS to assist veterans who aren't technologically savvy.

Norm Haas, commander of Linesville VFW Post 7842, said the post is proud to assist the VA by hosting one of only 12 ATLAS sites around the country.

Keith Gushard can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at kgushard@meadvilletribune.com.

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