VA to Connect with Veterans at Johnstown Tomahawks Game, Provide Education on VA Services, Veteran Benefits, & PACT Act
PRESS RELEASE
December 8, 2022
Altoona , PA — ALTOONA- The James E. Van Zandt VA Medical Center, through a community partnership with the Johnstown Tomahawks, is holding a Veteran outreach event at a Tomahawks game Friday, December, 9 at the Cambria County War Memorial Arena, 326 Napoleon Street, Johnstown, PA 15901.
VA staff will be present to connect with community Veterans when the Arena gates open at 6:30 p.m. Puck-drop is at 7:30 p.m.
Enrollment specialists and Veteran Service Officers from the VA will be present to assist Veterans in enrolling in VA healthcare and service-connected disability claims. There will also be VA staff present to provide education and resources on the PACT Act – which expands health care eligibility and increases health care benefits for generations of toxic-exposed Veterans. The PACT Act allows new Veterans to become eligible for VA care and benefits, along with increasing benefits for Veterans already enrolled in VA. The PACT Act may apply to certain Veterans of the Vietnam War, Gulf Wars, and post-9/11 era.
This outreach will also include representatives from the following VA programs/services: Military-2-VA, Suicide Prevention, Women’s Health, Whole Health, Nutrition and Food Services, Intimate Partner Violence, and My HeatheVet.
“Outreach events with community partners, like the Johnstown Tomahakws, are a vital part of our mission to ensure that all Veterans within our 14-count catchment area are aware of what the VA provides,” said Interim Center Director Kenneth Mortimer. “We are continuing to expand our connections to our Veteran communities, through fun, engaging events that give our Nation’s Heroes the education and resources to receive the benefits and care they earned for serving.”
The James E. Van Zandt VA Medical Center, along with its five community based outpatient clinics (CBOC), provides care to 27,000 Veterans within our 14-county catchment area. Those CBOCs are in Dubois, Johnstown, Huntingdon, State College, and Indiana.
For more information, please contact Evan Hinkley (Evan.Hinkley@VA.gov, 814-943-8164 ext. 18616).