VA Improving the Veteran Experience

General News

The Bay Pines VA Healthcare System (VAHCS) Prosthetics and Sensory Aids Service in Collaboration with Logistics Service and the organization’s Systems Redesign Department has implemented a new pilot program aimed to improve Veteran experience.   Starting September 1, 2016, Veterans assigned to the St. Petersburg Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) who require fitting and receipt of select durable medical equipment will now be able to do so directly at the clinic.  Previously, Veterans were required to receive these items from either the C.W. Bill Young VA Medical Center or Lee County Healthcare Center.   While fitting and receipt of items will still be available at the medical center and healthcare center, the new pilot program will improve access to these important items at the St. Petersburg CBOC and prevent the requirement for Veterans to schedule additional and unnecessary appointments related to the equipment.   “We are extremely excited about the opportunity to deliver various types of durable medical equipment to Veterans through our new point-of-service program at the St. Petersburg CBOC,” said Derek Reichardt, Chief, Prosthetics and Sensory Aids Service.  “The foundational element of this program is improving the Veteran experience by eliminating unnecessary steps in our traditional process and delivering required medical equipment quickly and at a location most convenient for the men and women we serve,” he said.   Reichardt, a U.S. Air Force Veteran, said the long term goal is to expand the program into all of the Bay Pines VAHCS’s community outpatient clinics in 2017.  Medical equipment items stocked at each outpatient clinic will vary based on need and available space.  Durable medical equipment currently available at the St. Petersburg CBOC includes:

  • Ankle Stabilizers
  • Blood Pressure Cuffs
  • Single Point Canes
  • Cervical Collars (Soft)
  • Elbow Straps
  • Foot Orthoses
  • Heating Pads
  • Knee Sleeves
  • Lumbar Support
  • Nebulizer Tubing Sets (Disposable)

For more information about this new point-of-service program, please contact the Bay Pines VAHCS Prosthetics and Sensory Aids Service at 727-398-6661, extension 15545.   About the Bay Pines VA Healthcare System The Bay Pines VAHCS is one of the nation’s leading VA healthcare systems, employing more than 4,000 medical professionals and support staff dedicated to providing the very best care to Veterans residing in southwest Florida.  The organization is the fourth busiest VA health care system in the country in terms of patients served and is accredited by The Joint Commission, Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, and several other nationally recognized accrediting organizations.  The Bay Pines VAHCS operates nine facilities to include the main medical center located in Bay Pines and outpatient clinics located in Bradenton, Cape Coral, Naples, Palm Harbor, Port Charlotte, Sarasota, St. Petersburg, and Sebring. To learn more, please visit www.baypines.va.gov, like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/vabaypines, or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/vabaypines

About Jeff Cavanagh

Jeff Cavanagh spent his freshman year at St. Petersburg Junior College back in the early 70s before enlisting in the United States Navy. Soon after, he attended Jacksonville University on a Navy ROTC scholarship. After college, he was commissioned and became a qualified Surface Warfare Officer spending the next 22 years honing his skills as a ship-handler and expert recruiter before retiring in 1994. Jeff expresses a deep sense of pride in St. Petersburg College due to connections that go back many years. His father, Tom Cavanagh, was a career Air Force fighter pilot and combat veteran who taught Geography and Western Civilization at St. Petersburg Junior College in the 60’s and 70’s.