West Point’s Keller Army Hospital, Hudson Valley VA form partnership to expand access
West Point’s Keller Army Hospital and Hudson Valley Veterans Affairs are partnering up to expand healthcare to one another's patients.
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West Point's Keller Army Hospital and the Hudson Valley Veterans Affairs healthcare system are now offering services to each other's patients.
In an announcement Monday morning outside Keller Hospital, officials from the VA and U.S. Department of Defense explained what they call a "win-win-win."
Keller is now providing numerous services for local VA patients, including orthopedics, nutrition care, surgery and dermatology.
The Montrose VA Center is now providing psychiatric care for West Point cadets.
"Being a cadet is stressful, so I think they'll find a huge benefit in having that connection," said Alyssa Carrion, a West Point graduate and veterans services coordinator for Mental Health America of Dutchess County.
Keller Hospital Commander Col. Briana Perata said it is a great fit.
"It just makes sense, right? When you look at the capabilities of what we offer, what our veterans are looking for," she said during the press conference.
Leaders from both the DoD and the VA said it took months to finalize the agreement, but in the end the two giant bureaucracies made a deal.
"We had to come across our two systems and really look at how we could better partner and what services we can offer to them and what they can offer to us,” said Hudson Valley VA Director Dawn Schaal.
Leaders of both agencies also expect the offerings to veterans, active duty soldiers and cadets to be expanded.
"We're helping [to serve] great Americans...We're preserving our readiness, and we're conserving money," Dr. Lester Martinez-Lopez, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs said. "Holy cow. How often do we do that?"
