The Texarkana Veterans Administration Community Based Outpatient Clinic had reason to celebrate two occasions Thursday evening.
Besides becoming a Texarkana Chamber of Commerce member, the clinic hosted Shreveport's Overton Brooks VA Medical Center veterans town hall meeting there for the first time since the center started holding town all meetings in Texarkana in 2013.
Besides providing information on veterans health care enrollment and benefits, medical center leaders who attended the meeting, along with VA Outreach Service representatives and special program representatives, helped at least 50 local and area military veterans file and process benefits claims.
Kendra R. Watson, the clinic's administrative officer, said the clinic, which moved to Texarkana, Ark. from the Texas-side in 2003, decided to apply for chamber membership because it will help the office to better engage with the whole Twin-Cities community.
Watson added that after spending 15 years on the Arkansas-side, the clinic will be looking at moving back to the Texas-side during the next couple of years in and effort to find more patient waiting room and medical care space.
"Right now, we busting out at the seams," she said. "To night, we just decided to go ahead and incorporate our chamber membership celebration with the town hall meeting in an effort to see if future town hall meetings might be workable here at this location," she said.
Richard Crockett, medical director for the center, thanked all the veterans for their service to the country and for coming out to the meeting to share their ideas for improved service as well as to ask questions.
"We are here to answer questions and hear what you have to say," Crockett said. "Please don't shy away from telling us how you feel. We want to know what you're experiencing. If holding these meeting at 6 p.m.,works well for you, we will keep doing that and if it's 10 p.m., we will be glad to do that too."
Crockett and other staff members spent the rest of the evening helping veterans with questions regarding medical billing, patient travel compensation, medical appointment making and medical enrollment processing.