Help For Our Armed Forces: VA Mobile Medical Unit Heals More Than Physical Pains

It has been coming to the Farmville area for a little over five years now. The amount of help that it has provided to veterans in the Farmville area and beyond is more than significant. “It” is the Veterans Administration Mobile Medical Unit, and it is a vital link in the chain of services that come together to provide medical care for the thousands of veterans that live in outlying areas such as Farmville, and beyond.  A scant ten minutes in the mobile unit is all that it took to get an idea of just how necessary it is. In that time two gentlemen came in seeking medical care. One was a regular patient that needed a follow-up as part of his prescribed, ongoing medical care. The other man was a first time visitor that had questions about how to get started receiving eye care from the mobile unit. Within 15 minutes the gentleman not only had proper paperwork moving, but he had an eye appointment made with a reputable local eye doctor. According to Lt. Colonel Bridget Kmetz, a nurse practitioner assigned to the Rural Mobile Medical Unit (the proper name for the unit), an efficient, effective referral service is one of the best programs that could be offered to veterans that live in outlying areas. “You have to look at it this way,” she explained. “It is true that McGuire’s has a transportation service, but they only allow so much in dollars and cents. Depending on what some of these fellows may need in the way of medical care, they may end up spending a whole day at the hospital, and they aren’t going to find anybody willing to wait for them. If at all possible, we would rather refer them to a doctor closer to their home. It is faster care, and it is a lot less stressful on the patients.”

The Lieutenant Colonel also explained something that was most obvious from the start. The bond between the nurses that work on the medical unit and the veterans that depend on them for their care is immeasurable by any normal standards. “I need to be very clear,” she said pointedly. “There is absolutely nothing good about war.” She reiterated, “Not for you or me or the veterans that we see in here. You know, some of the things these fellows see they won’t talk about, except maybe to one of us nurses. They have a lot of respect for the men and women that patch them up when they get hurt. War creates a bond between the soldiers and the nurses that is special.” It is for those reasons that one of the first things that happens when the truck stops to set up in Farmville is that the awning is opened for shade and three or four chairs are set out, just for the fellows to sit and talk.

     On the average, the McGuire’s Rural Mobile Medical Unit sees eight patients a day just at the Farmville location. The team can do anything that a General Practitioner can do in his [her] office.

“That is provided we are working out of the larger of the two medical units. We are in the 20 foot unit today. We also have a 40 foot unit,” Eleanor Washington, the Lead Nurse on the team explained. “I can take blood pressure, administer shots, perform minor wound care, anything that would be done in a doctor’s office, I can do here.” The McGuire’s Rural Mobile Medical Unit provides vital medical services and care to the men and women that have served our country with military service. For any number of reasons, the medical care that they need may not be as easy to get as it is for others. That is no reason for these men and women to go without care. If you know a veteran that may benefit from the information in this article, share it with them. The Rural Medical Unit sets up weekly, on Thursdays, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in front of the Elks Lodge on Main and Gross Streets.