Veterans Affairs (VA) officials in Atlanta are “leaving the veterans of Northeast Georgia out of the picture, and these veterans need the publics help” Joe Brandon says.
Brandon coordinates the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) van service that carried veterans to their appointments at the Atlanta VA Medical Center until COVID-19 brought the service to a halt.
Those trips were made three times a week, Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Now that COVID-19 restrictions are loosened and vans can be put back on the road, Brandon says the VA has set so many rules for the vans and their drivers the service is impossible.
So impossible that all the volunteer drivers who make the service possible have resigned citing the confusion of the VA red tape. They also complain that other VA facilities aren’t enforcing the rules demanded by the Atlanta office.
Tangled in that red tape, only two veterans are allowed to be carried on the van at a time. Once a veteran has an appointment, he or she must call the VA to get that appointment approved. The veteran is then assigned to a trip.
“I don’t know how they’re going to do that,” Brandon said, since they don’t know anything about local scheduling.
Previously, all this was done locally. The veteran was told the appointment time and then scheduled his ride.
And now, once a veteran is dropped off, the new VA rules say the van must be taken to the transportation center and then sanitized, supposedly immediately. Drivers are concerned with a possible all day ordeal.
Roadblocks mount because the VA is still holding the new van in Atlanta bought for the service.
Local veterans raised the money to buy that van, which is operated by Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Chapter 28, Brandon said.
Brandon said the VA in Atlanta has suggested Fannin County veterans use the same options as those in the metro Atlanta area; Uber or drive themselves and get reimbursed for mileage. “These don’t work for our veterans,”
Brandon said.
Uber is not an option here. “Who would pay an Uber driver to deadhead all the way up here to pick up a veteran, then deadhead back to Atlanta after the round trip was made?,” Brandon asks.
As far as veterans driving themselves, Brandon explains many can’t manipulate Atlanta traffic. As for getting reimbursed for mileage, he says this usually takes the VA eight to ten months.
“Many of our veterans can’t afford such a wait. They simply don’t have the money,” Brandon said.
“They’ve (the VA) virtually shut the system down,” Brandon says, so he is asking for the publics help.
He urges everyone to call Congressman Andrew Clyde and senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock. “This seems to be our only hope,” Brandon said. The list of these congressional contacts appears on page A5 of today’s newspaper.