by Neil Richard
Supervisor Ruby Brabo hosted a Town Hall focused on military veterans at the Dahlgren campus of the University of Mary Washington. The main topics presented during the event were updates from Mary Washington Hospital, updates from the Navy's base in Dahlgren, and Virginia's role in helping veterans.
Jason Hamilton and Phil Brown both spoke about the pending opening of the Urgent Care center in the building behind the old Journal office. Mary Washington Hospital will open this new facility in early November and will be able to handle urgent care, blood testing, and medical imaging. Although some in the audience needed a little clarification, Brown and Hamilton explained that the facility could handle urgent care needs, but not life-threatening scenarios that would require an emergency room. They also said the center would not address long term care issues that a primary care doctor would treat. In other words, it's just like any other urgent care in the area that can handle minor emergencies like a cold or sinus infection but nothing serious like a severed leg and nothing a regular doctor would take care of over time like high cholesterol. Hamilton also said the medical imaging would include mammography, x-rays, and ultrasounds. Hours of operation would be 8am to 8pm Monday through Friday and 8am to 4pm on weekends and Federal holidays.
Captain O'Leary then gave everyone an update on the Navy's mission at Dahlgren as well as an overview of the history of the base and the basics of what happens there. A few interesting facts from his presentation included the facility being over 4,300 acres in size and having over 11,000 employees. The breakdown of employees was 383 military, 4,739 contractors, and 6,102 civilian government employees. One of the larger missions on base was the ATRC, Aegis Training Readiness Center, which hosts over 2,000 temporary students every year. According to projections, Captain O'Leary said there could be 20,000 employees by the year 2030. He also said one of his main missions before moving to his new post was to study the traffic on base to see where improvements could be made and how to mitigate congestion.
The last presenter of the evening was Carlos Hopkins, Virginia's Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs. He noted that Virginia is home to 714,000 veterans and that each veteran has at least one dependent. He said it would be a fair guess that out of the 8 million people living in Virginia, 2 million have a direct tie to a veteran. Hopkins said that taking care of the spouse and children of vets was a key point in ensuring their success. He noted several programs in place, including one to place disabled dependents in the workforce and exit programs for those leaving the military. Suicide prevention was also a big focus of his department. Hopkins said that veterans that are in Virginia have access to the same level of care across the state, regardless of where they live. He also noted that his department operates two care centers, with two more being built, and several cemeteries.
At the end of the evening, several audience members asked questions related to veteran benefits and care within the area and in general terms as well. Some had specific questions for their specific needs such as caretakers and business rights for those hiring veterans. Some in the audience asked about accessing the base and the new identification requirements and a few asked about the new amenities at the new urgent care.
Supervisor Ruby Brabo hosted a Town Hall focused on military veterans at the Dahlgren campus of the University of Mary Washington. The main topics presented during the event were updates from Mary Washington Hospital, updates from the Navy's base in Dahlgren, and Virginia's role in helping veterans.
Jason Hamilton and Phil Brown both spoke about the pending opening of the Urgent Care center in the building behind the old Journal office. Mary Washington Hospital will open this new facility in early November and will be able to handle urgent care, blood testing, and medical imaging. Although some in the audience needed a little clarification, Brown and Hamilton explained that the facility could handle urgent care needs, but not life-threatening scenarios that would require an emergency room. They also said the center would not address long term care issues that a primary care doctor would treat. In other words, it's just like any other urgent care in the area that can handle minor emergencies like a cold or sinus infection but nothing serious like a severed leg and nothing a regular doctor would take care of over time like high cholesterol. Hamilton also said the medical imaging would include mammography, x-rays, and ultrasounds. Hours of operation would be 8am to 8pm Monday through Friday and 8am to 4pm on weekends and Federal holidays.
Captain O'Leary then gave everyone an update on the Navy's mission at Dahlgren as well as an overview of the history of the base and the basics of what happens there. A few interesting facts from his presentation included the facility being over 4,300 acres in size and having over 11,000 employees. The breakdown of employees was 383 military, 4,739 contractors, and 6,102 civilian government employees. One of the larger missions on base was the ATRC, Aegis Training Readiness Center, which hosts over 2,000 temporary students every year. According to projections, Captain O'Leary said there could be 20,000 employees by the year 2030. He also said one of his main missions before moving to his new post was to study the traffic on base to see where improvements could be made and how to mitigate congestion.
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| Captain O'Leary shares the major commands hosted on base. |
The last presenter of the evening was Carlos Hopkins, Virginia's Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs. He noted that Virginia is home to 714,000 veterans and that each veteran has at least one dependent. He said it would be a fair guess that out of the 8 million people living in Virginia, 2 million have a direct tie to a veteran. Hopkins said that taking care of the spouse and children of vets was a key point in ensuring their success. He noted several programs in place, including one to place disabled dependents in the workforce and exit programs for those leaving the military. Suicide prevention was also a big focus of his department. Hopkins said that veterans that are in Virginia have access to the same level of care across the state, regardless of where they live. He also noted that his department operates two care centers, with two more being built, and several cemeteries.
At the end of the evening, several audience members asked questions related to veteran benefits and care within the area and in general terms as well. Some had specific questions for their specific needs such as caretakers and business rights for those hiring veterans. Some in the audience asked about accessing the base and the new identification requirements and a few asked about the new amenities at the new urgent care.
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