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VA Maine Healthcare

 November 2010
Maine
And the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
General Information
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) offers a wide variety of programs and services for the nation’s 23 million veterans. In 2009, about 5.75 million people were treated in VA health care facilities, 3.9 million veterans and survivors received VA disability compensation or pensions, more than 564,000 used GI Bill education benefits and nearly 326,000 home loans were guaranteed by GI Bill home loan benefits. VA issued nearly $162,053 million in Post-9/11 GI Bill benefit payments to 34,393 individuals and their educational institutions in 2009. Nearly 78,127 veterans took advantage of VA’s vocational rehabilitation and employment service, and nationally, veterans held more than 1.2 million life insurance policies valued at $14.6 billion in 2009. More than 106,000 veterans and family members were buried in VA’s national cemeteries and more than 360,000 headstones and markers were provided for veterans’ graves worldwide.
General Information – Maine
o Number of veterans: 141,000
o VA expenditures in Maine: $672 million
o Compensation and pensions: $376 million
o Readjustment benefits: $26 million
o Medical and construction programs: $248 million
o Insurance and indemnities: $7 million
o Number of veterans receiving disability compensation or pension payments: 24,621
o Number of Maine veterans using GI Bill education benefits: 1,920
o Number of home loans in Maine backed by VA guarantees: 992
o Value of Maine home loans guaranteed by VA: $180 million
o Number of VA life insurance policies held by Maine residents: 7,567
o Value of VA life insurance policies held by Maine residents: $82 million
o Number of Maine participants in VA vocational rehabilitation: 450
o Number of headstones and markers provided for graves of Maine veterans and survivors: 2,478
Health Care
One of the most visible of all VA benefits is health care. VA has 153 hospitals, 773 community-based outpatient clinics, 260 Vet Centers, 135 nursing homes, 47 residential rehabilitation treatment programs and 121 comprehensive home care programs. To improve patients’ ability to access care, VA has changed from a hospital-based system to a primarily outpatient-focused
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system over the past decade. Veterans will make more than 60 million outpatient visits to VA health care facilities this year.
Health Care - Maine
o Inpatient admissions, statewide, fiscal year 2009:
o Togus: 2,147
o Outpatient visits, statewide, fiscal year 2009: 349,000
o Outpatient clinic locations
Bangor
Calais
Caribou
Houlton
Lincoln
Portland
Rumford
Saco
Post-Conflict Care
VA has launched special efforts to provide a "seamless transition" for those returning from service in Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF). Each VA medical facility and benefits regional office has a point of contact to coordinate activities locally to help meet the needs of these returning combat service members and veterans. In addition, VA increased the staffing of benefits counselors at key military hospitals where severely wounded service members from Iraq and Afghanistan are frequently sent. Once home, recent Iraq and Afghan veterans have ready access to VA health care, which is free of charge for five years following separation for any health problem possibly related to wartime service. Some 537,000 veterans from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have sought VA health care since returning stateside, about 47 percent of the total number of men and women leaving military service.
Post-Conflict Care - Maine
o Veterans Readjustment Counseling Centers (Vet Centers) Locations:
o Bangor
o Caribou
o Lewiston
o Portland
o Springvale
Disabilities and Pensions
Not all military service-related issues end when people are discharged from active duty. About 2.9 million veterans receive monthly VA disability compensation for medical conditions related to their service in uniform. VA pensions go to about 316,000 wartime veterans with limited means. Family members of about 528,000 veterans qualify for monthly VA payments as the survivors of disabled veterans or pension recipients.
Disabilities and Pensions - Maine
o Number of veterans receiving monthly disability compensation: 22,346
o Number of VA pensions to veterans in Maine: 2,275
o Number of disability compensation claims processed: 5,294
Memorial Affairs
Most men and women who served in the military are eligible for burial in a VA national cemetery, as are their spouses and dependent children. VA manages the country’s network
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of national cemeteries with approximately 3 million gravesites at 131 national cemeteries in 39 states and Puerto Rico, as well as in 33 soldier’s lots and monument sites. In 2009, more than 106,000 veterans and dependents were buried in VA's national cemeteries. Additionally, VA provided more than 350,000 headstones and markers and 655,000 Presidential Memorial Certificates to the loved ones of deceased veterans. VA-assisted state veterans cemeteries provided more than 26,000 interments.
Memorial Affairs – Maine
o National cemetery burials in Maine, 2009:
o Togus: None (closed to new burials)
o Headstones and markers provided in 2009 (statewide): 2,478
o Presidential Memorial Certificates issued in 2009(statewide): 2,443
 

 

 

Togus Historical Info

145 years ago today, on November 1, 1866, the first National Asylum for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers officially opened at the former Togus Springs summer resort near Augusta.  Togus is the oldest VHA hospital facility.

 

On September 6, 1866, the Board of Managers approved purchase of the former resort for $50,000 and it was partially staffed within a month.  By 1873 it was known as the Eastern Branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers and was one of four National Homes established for sick or disabled Union veterans. The government’s system of National Homes eventually grew to include 11 homes nation-wide with 3 new homes authorized in the same year the former Veterans Administration was created (1930). All the National Homes, including Togus, continue to serve veterans as VA hospitals and medical centers today.

 

Among the veterans admitted to the Eastern Branch in Togus during its first month of operation were:

 

August Moller, New York 103rd Infantry, Co. F., private, born in Germany, 21 years old, admitted November 23, 1866; died March 30, 1867; buried at Togus National Cemetery in Section D, Site 3

 

James Nickerson, Massachusetts 19th Infantry, Co. A, private, born in England, 48 years old, admitted October 6, 1866

 

John O. Smith, Maine 16th Infantry, Co. I, private, born in Maine, 19 years old, admitted November 17, 1866; died April 13, 1867

 

Asa C. Cross, Maine 30th Infantry, Co. C, private, born in Nova Scotia, 56 years old, admitted November 17, 1866

 

In August 2011, Togus was renamed as the VA Maine Health Care System.