In March, the Veterans Administration, Larimer County, and Fort Collins Senior Center hosted the annual Veterans Forum for Seniors with over 90 veterans and their spouses attending this informational event. Four speakers made presentations and answered many questions by the senior veterans.
There is a VA hospital in Cheyenne, WY and Denver, CO and four other Colorado locations. Fort Collins (970-223-1550) and Greeley (970-313-0027) have outpatient clinics for all registered veterans.
Andrew Ruben presented a slide presentation on veteran’s statistics and benefits. Interestingly, there are over 22 million living U.S. veterans. Over eight million veterans are enrolled in the veteran’s health care system. Over four million veterans receive compensation and VA benefits annually. The sad story is only 55% of all veterans have applied for their benefits. Healthcare, financial benefits, and burial services are available to all veterans.
Veterans having between 70 to 100% military service could receive VA benefits on nursing home and hospice care as needed. The VA system is focusing towards patient centered care at all facilities.
Karri Primak discussed the different services available to veterans and Dr Rodney Haug discussed the available medical and mental services for veterans. Trisha Reynolds discussed the coordinator services at the county office to help new veterans apply for VA benefits.
The VA benefits application process is simple. A DD214 military discharge form is needed to apply for the VA benefits. It takes less than one hour to determine the veteran’s eligibility and seven days for approval. Visit your local Veterans Service Center at the Larimer County facility (200 W. Oak Street) in Fort Collins or call 970-498-7394 for applying and more information.
Associated photo, the speaker panel for the annual Veterans Forum for Seniors: (l-r) Trisha Reynolds with the Larimer County Veterans Service Center, Karri Primak with the Cheyenne VA Medical Center, Dr. Rodney Haug with the Fort Collins Veterans Outpatient Clinic, and Andrew Ruben with the Cheyenne Medical Center.