‘We’re all in’

Before he left Melissa Memorial Hospital the morning of Monday, Feb. 13, Director David Callahan of the Colorado Division of Veterans Affairs handed its CEO Michael Hassell a coin topped with a depiction of five stars. These coins, Callahan stated in an email, are given to those who “partner with the division” in aiding the state’s veterans.

“This is all about developing relationships: That’s why I want to come out here and visit everyone where they are,” he said earlier that day during a meeting with hospital personnel and veteran service workers. “Because when something happens, that’s not the time to develop a relationship.”

Under the coin’s stars – all symbolic in their own right – sits the letter C, which surrounds the depiction of a tree and mountainside beneath the sun. The C, Callahan stated, symbolizes the collaboration and cooperation between the VA and county partners. The tree, he continued, “serves to remind us that we are a living, growing organization.”

“Not perfect,” he noted, “but pursing perfection in hope of achieving excellence.”

Finally, he stated, the sun shines over the continental divide, representing “hope for a brighter future for all our veterans across Colorado.”

Gaining ‘firepower’

Jeremy Kilpatrick, veterans service officer for Phillips County, arrived to the hospital for the one-and-a-half-hour meeting to get a better understanding of the people and systems with which he interacted, along with where he could best apply his efforts and gain what he considered positive change. Though no one there was “directly getting anything accomplished,” Kilpatrick said, he left happy, believing they had helped lay a foundation that could give rise to future dividends.

From the local side, he said, the hospital and veterans service personnel aimed to discover “what firepower” Callahan could offer from his Denver office.

While Callahan has “no power” regarding local health care claims through the VA, according to Kilpatrick, he does meet with the person who has that pull: Michael Kilmer, director for the organization’s Eastern Colorado Health Care System. Through information acquired at the Feb. 13 meeting, Kilpatrick continued, Callahan now has more “firepower” to influence future decisions.

“I feel the hospital staff did an outstanding job... being welcoming to Director Callahan,” he said. “Our hospital staff are unbelievably veteran-centric – they love the vets – and they want to provide for the community.”

Shortly before the meeting’s end, Hassell told those in attendance, “We’re all in.”

As stated in previous issues of The Holyoke Enterprise, Melissa Memorial hosts the only remote patient monitoring system in any rural Colorado clinic and – as of Dec. 9, 2022 – gained recognition from the American Diabetes Association, allowing it to be reimbursed by insurance for its one-on-one work with diabetic patients. Of the state’s 32 critical aspect hospitals, Colorado Rural Health Center ranked Melissa Memorial in the top three for 2022.

Outreach for veterans

Late into the meeting, Hassell asked, “How can we help?” Glen Marciniak, regional veteran service officer for the Colorado Division of Veterans Affairs, took the opportunity to press one of his “key strategic initiatives”: outreach.

Namely, he found an opportunity in events such as the Phillips County Fair, where “people are jumping off those John Deere tractors and getting in their vehicles” to attend. There, he said, he would like to see a partnership between the hospital, and himself and Kilpatrick.

“I’m sure you already have representation out there at the county fair,” Marciniak told Hassell. “Partner with us. Be close to us. I’ll set up a tent. Let’s get information.

“When they see ‘Colorado Division of Veterans Affairs’ on the banner and they come in, your hospital’s right there. Capture those individuals.”

Getting “the word out,” Callahan said, translates into more federal dollars, spurred by government entities seeing a need as more veterans sign up for benefit programs.

“There’s a misconception: Veterans say, ‘Well, I’m not missing a leg and blind, so my buddy here needs the service more than I do,’” Callahan said. “No! Go in, get your physical once a year. 

“Everyone who’s a veteran should go in and get registered with the VA, because we can use those federal dollars. The more federal dollars they bring in, the more they can support – and that will expand to our rural communities.”

This goes for veterans “in their mid-thirties” with “a nice job [and who] make six figures,” Kilpatrick said. Were they to sign up for VA services, he continued, they would help the county and there always would be some benefit for them as well.

Using a VA chart showing the organization’s distribution of expenditures, Callahan noted Phillips County contains 265 veterans supported by about $1.8 million for the year. 

“Now, let me tell you why that number’s misleading,” Marciniak said. “Those are veterans who are receiving federal funds. That doesn’t include veterans who have gotten out of the military and haven’t registered with the VA.”

Based on his own work, Kilpatrick said, he believes only a third of veterans have thus far registered. For those would consider registering – or just want to meet with other veterans – he hosts a Veterans Coffee Social from 8 a.m. to noon in the Northeast Colorado Health Department conference room, located at 127 E. Denver Street in Holyoke. This location could change, however, as Hassell and he are considering whether they should relocate the meetings to Melissa Memorial.