Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center hosts informative town halls for veterans

MARQUETTE — The Oscar G Johnson VA Medical Center is holding a series of town halls, to educate local veterans about changes in their health care.

Veterans and their families alike gathered at the Northern Center on Northern Michigan University’s campus, to stay up–to–date on things related to their health care providers.

“This is one of many town halls we do every year, as we cover about 26,000 square miles,” said Timothy Ellison, Veteran’s Experience Officer for the medical center. “In an effort to make sure we’re getting up-to-date information to the veterans, we literally get a team together, and we travel around the UP. We’ve done small towns and we’ve done bigger cities, but the idea is to just get as many veterans as we can to hear the latest on what’s going on with the VA.”

In conjunction with Suicide Prevention Month, these series of town halls focus particularly on suicide prevention and mental health of veterans.

One of the major reason for these town halls is the implementation of the Mission Act, which took effect in June of this month.

A key change that the act brings is how veterans can receive urgent health care in rural areas.

To find out more about these town halls, visit their Facebook page here.