By Glenn Rolfe

MILLSBORO — There’s a battle cry among some veterans in lower Delaware, who are calling for more resources, closer to home.

Such was the theme at an informational session Thursday at American Legion Post 28. The gathering brought several Veterans Affairs representatives to speak and make presentations.

Presently, the state’s former military members are served by the Veterans Affairs medical center in Wilmington and clinics in Dover and Georgetown that provide comprehensive primary care, mental health and other specialty offerings.

Vamsee Potluri, who was appointed director of the Veterans Affairs Wilmington Healthcare System last summer, said his staff puts veterans first in everything we do.”

Suicide prevention is a clinical priority, and “there are a host of other options, … reaching out and engaging our community partners to end suicide,” he said.

For its part, the Wilmington VA facility serves more than 40,000. “That number is growing. Over the past five years, we have seen over 30% growth in the number of veterans choosing VA, choosing Wilmington,” Mr. Potluri said at the meeting last week. “So, those of you not enrolled in the VA care, not using VA care, I encourage you to explore that.”

Veterans Affairs officials say they hear the concerns from Sussex County, and in response, the agency has added one more primary care team each in Dover and Georgetown, with radiology planned in the capital city.

And there are short-term and long-term plans for Georgetown, said Kim Bitler, Wilmington VA’s  Associate Director of Operations

“The big plan that we have for the Georgetown clinic right .now is an additional primary care team. That is where the biggest need is in the clinic. We have so many new people coming in,” she explained. “We’re making sure we have the primary care team, so we don’t burn out of our existing primary care providers.”

There are ideas for facilities, as well.

“What we are looking for now in the shorter term is a leased space nearby to supplement the space (in Georgetown) that we already have. We have asked for up to 5,500 square feet,” Ms. Butler said. “The hope would be to move some of the things out of the main clinic and put (them) there to decompress the main clinic.

“(But) our infrastructure plan is not very fast. We build it, and then, more people come, and we are not ready. Unfortunately, that is what happened in Georgetown. Every time I go into the Georgetown clinic, I can’t believe how many people they crammed in there.”

In addition, a micro-hospital, smaller in scale than the Wilmington location, is a long-term goal.

“We have very big plans for Sussex County. We see that it is growing. We see that a lot more people are interested in VA health care, and a lot more people will be eligible for VA health care. We are planning,” said Ms. Butler. “Like I said, it doesn’t happen fast, but we are approved for a much larger facility here in Sussex County that will have significantly more specialties and options for care.”