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For thousands of service members in the Greenville area, specialty care is only minutes away at the VA Health Care Center. Since opening in 2014, it has welcomed patients, helping them reduce the time spent traveling for pain treatment, post- traumatic stress care, cancer, hearing screenings, and regular medical appointments.
Veterans are returning home in greater numbers after completing their military service, rather than moving away, says Jonathan Forte, administrator of the Greenville Health Care Center. “They’re choosing to settle back in eastern North Carolina,” he says. About 45 new veterans a month are identified in Greenville. Overall the state has the fourth-highest veteran population in the U.S.
Located on Moye Boulevard near Vidant Medical Center, the Greenville VA center, operated by the federal Veterans Administration, has 116,000 square feet of bright waiting areas, modern exam rooms, offices, pharmacy, and labs.
The Greenville center has about 15,000 active patients, and sees about 1,000 of them every day. Its staff of 328 includes 135 medical providers offering women’s services, primary care, minor surgical procedures, radiology, dentistry, audiology, mental health, and others. It is a medical home for qualifying veterans in 13 eastern North Carolina counties, where an estimated 75,000 veterans live — with an estimated 11,000 veterans in Pitt County alone. Greenville’s center is part of the Durham VA Health Care System.
Nationally, the VA is the largest integrated health system. It has 24 sites in North Carolina, including outpatient, health care, and full inpatient medical centers. Greenville’s multi- specialty center was the second of its kind in the state. In all, the VA has five outpatient centers, seven medical centers, and more than dozen smaller clinics in the region. About 391,000 veterans receive care, some of them at no charge based on their eligibility.
The bright, environmentally friendly building holds the promise of more than just medical care for the veterans who visit. The open first floor provides a casual, friendly meeting place that offers a warm welcome. For veterans coming in from the coast, including those referred from the Morehead City outpatient office, it becomes a home away from home.
“Our No. 1 priority as a health care center is to meet veterans ‘where they are,’” Forte says. That means reaching out to service members who may be considering suicide, who have hearing problems, or who may need cancer screenings — conditions that affect veterans differently than other members of the community. Although they may also choose to see doctors outside the VA system, many feel more comfortable with the VA because it serves only veterans. That distinction makes all the difference for them.
Because of their exposure to conditions not commonly experienced by civilians, veterans may respond better to providers who are familiar on their special background, and who may be veterans themselves.
“We offer our patients a personal touch,” says Olive Cyrus, associate chief nurse. “Each vet who walks through our doors is an individual we have a relationship with.” They appreciate the individualized attention, Cyrus says.
The VA medical center is part of the larger health campus around it, since medical residents, nurses, and other health students complete rotations there. Cyrus says some of them will chose to work in a VA center after completing their training, too.
Veteran Tonya Mial, R.N. care manager in primary care, returned to her North Carolina home after completing her years of service. She wanted to work among the people she served with for years.
“These are my family,” Mial says. “Retiring from the military after so long, it feels good to be taking care of the people I’ve worked alongside for 20 years.”
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“WE OFFER OUR PATIENTS A PERSONAL TOUCH...EACH VET WHO WALKS THROUGH OUR DOORS IS AN INDIVIDUAL WE HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH.”