Coleman is referring to the outreach clinic and benefits office that she has been asking the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to build on Saipan so that local veterans do not have to travel to Hawaii to get the health services they deserve.
Coleman just came back from Honolulu, Hawaii where she made a presentation during a four-day conference on VA health care in the Pacific insular areas and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Coleman said she was able to justify the need for a VA outreach clinic and benefits office on Saipan after she presented the status of the 1,500 military personnel and veterans in the CNMI.
She also informed the federal officials about the projected increase in the number of military personnel and veterans in the CNMI as a result of the military build-up on Guam.
According to Coleman, her presentation was very well received which made her strongly feel that “we’re going to get what we asked for.”
Prior to the conference, retired Gen. James Hastings, the director of the Department of Veterans Affairs regional office in Hawaii, was toured by Coleman and Department of Public Health Secretary Joseph Kevin Villagomez to different sections of the local hospital to explore the possibility of opening a VA outreach clinic there.
The Hawaii meeting, Coleman said, discussed how health care and benefits are delivered to the veterans in the Pacific insular areas and what can be done to improve them.
The meeting was attended by the officials of Veterans Affairs and representatives of veterans offices from American Samoa, Palau, Guam, the FSM, the Marshalls and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
