After more than two years without primary care on the Island, a group of Vineyard veterans blasted the Veterans Administration and Partners Healthcare yesterday for failing to restore medical services that had been available on the Island for years. The veterans met with a team of national representatives from the American Legion in the hope that they will bring their message back to Capitol Hill.

Chuck Cotnoir
Chuck Cotnoir. — Mark Alan Lovewell

“These are earned benefits, these aren’t handouts,” said an animated Woody Williams, a Viet Nam veteran. “We’ve got to get our clinic back.”

Three representatives from the American Legion headquarters in Washington, D.C., visited the Vineyard Haven American Legion on Wednesday to hear from more than 20 Island veterans about the difficulty in accessing VA care on the Vineyard. The stop was part of their nationwide Systems Worth Saving tour. At the end of the tour, feedback from the veterans will be compiled in report that will be presented to members of Congress.

In 2000 the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital signed a contract with the VA to provide primary care to Island veterans. That contract expired in 2004, but the VA did not recognize that it had expired until 2008. Soon after, Island veterans also learned that the contract had expired, through the unwelcome arrival of collection agency letters.

Michael Fontes Fred Thifault Stan Chilmark
Michael Fontes, Stan Mercer and Fred Thifault. — Mark Alan Lovewell

“A few years ago now we started getting hellacious, I mean thousands and thousands of dollars worth of bills from collection agencies on behalf of the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital,” said Mr. Williams. “It took us a hell of a long time for us to figure out what was going on here.”

As a result Island veterans have been increasingly pushed to seek medical care off-Island at VA hospitals like that in Providence, R.I., and a clinic in Hyannis. It can be an expensive and often frustrating journey.

“May I tell you my story?” Edgartown resident Nelson Smith asked the American Legion representatives. “I had to report for a blood test in Hyannis and two days later I had to go in for a physical, which didn’t make sense to me. I got over to Hyannis and I said, it’s kind of foolish for me to make a two-day excursion to Hyannis, so . . . I was told to have my blood test on Martha’s Vineyard. All of a sudden I got a bill for $600 for the blood test. I didn’t realize I was going to get waylaid by this $600 bill. I went back to Hyannis and they told me, you’ve got a vascular problem, we’re going to send you to Providence and see what they can do for you. A friend of mine who’s a good driver drove me over, we walked in and they said, ‘Well our vascular agent is sick, he isn’t in today,’ and I said, ‘Well why in the hell couldn’t you pick up the phone and call Martha’s Vineyard because I made the trip all the way over here.’ Anyway we called the trip off and they told me they’d call in me a few days and I’ve never heard from them since. It’s been a year and a half.”

Mr. Smith ended up going to a doctor in New Bedford for vascular surgery.

Nelson Smith
World War II veteran Nelson Smith of Edgartown. — Mark Alan Lovewell

“I’ve never heard a damn word from Providence since,” he said.

Other veterans noted that even successful trips came with a price that, unless they met certain disability requirements, could not be reimbursed.

“When it blows you can’t go, and if it looks like its going blow you’re not going to get back,” said VFW commander Ron Klein. “That means you’re going to have to spend the night over on the other side in a hotel room. Hotels aren’t cheap over there. Then you talk about the price of gas, the ferry price, it’s quite the expense.”

Veteran Greg Spain added: “If you do have to stay over you catch hell for trying to get reimbursed for a hotel. And the guy in travel over there isn’t exactly Susie Sunshine.”

Russell Smith
County manager Russell Smith pressed for answers. — Mark Alan Lovewell

Veterans are also often required to request special approval from the VA Hyannis office for seemingly simple medical treatments. Mr. Williams, who sported a cast to the meeting, said he was scheduled to have it removed on Nov. 23 and begin physical therapy shortly thereafter. But the administrator responsible for approving such treatments would be on vacation until Nov. 28, with no replacement. As a result, dozens of veterans requests for special approvals will go unprocessed.

“There’s nothing we can do about it because there’s absolutely no accountability,” said Mr. Williams.

Dukes County manager Russell Smith pressed Todd White of the American Legion about whether in his discussions with the VA he had received any indication that the contracts with Partners to restore VA primary care on the Island would be done in the near future.

“What the Island is looking for, and I think I speak for everyone here is not special services,” Mr. Smith said. “What we really want is for the hospital that’s here and the services they provide to be available to the veterans through the VA.”

“They said yes they are continuing to work on the contracts, that is what they told us,” said Mr. White.

The answer did not satisfy Dukes County veterans agent Jo Ann Murphy

“This has been almost two years now,” she said. “We have been waiting and we don’t understand what the problem is. Why when they had a contract can’t they just renew the contract there is?”

Ms. Murphy read from an e-mail freighted with bureaucratic language from one VA administrator that wavered about the contracts.

“In all my years working with bureaucracies this has been the most [maddening] experience,” said county commissioner Tristan Israel. “If it wasn’t people’s livelihoods, it would be humorous. I don’t see a light at the end of the tunnel. I think we’re just getting a runaround.”

“The most important thing we can do is hear your perspectives,” said Jacob Gadd, deputy director of health care for the American Legion. “We know there is a delay and it is unacceptable.”