Earlier this month, NFFE Local 1 representatives joined 3500 VA workers from across the nation at the Primary Care Medical Home Conference in Las Vegas, NV, to discuss a new model of care for our nation’s veterans. The objective of the conference was both ambitious and deliberate: To improve patient satisfaction, clinical quality, safety and efficiencies by becoming a national leader in the delivery of primary care services through transformation to a medical home model of health care delivery.
Attending the conference at the personal request of Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 21 Director Sheila Cullen, was NFFE Local #1 President, Patricia La Sala RN, MS. Local # 1 members, Erlinda Palaad RN, Sharon Ezekiel, LCSW, and Linda Tawney RN and Cheryl Wenell NP, represented their clinical areas on each of the task forces and planning teams charged with seeking ways to improve and ultimately implement the new method of care.
The model under consideration, referred to as the “Primary Care Medical Home” (PCMH) seeks to fundamentally alter the way the VA heals our veterans, placing the patient at the center of a “home” of doctors, nurses, pharmacists, social workers and other health professionals who will work collaboratively to deliver a higher quality of care. The idea is to provide veterans with a more comprehensive and sustained method of care in a way that improves health outcomes while also improving veterans’ experience of care.
“We are very excited to offer our veterans this new method of care,” said NFFE National Vice President and Local #1 President Patricia LaSala. “This plan puts veterans at the center of the model, giving every veteran a team of healthcare workers who will be available for them at all times. They deserve nothing but the best from us, and I think this plan gives them just that.”