Guest Room for Veterans Living with ALS Celebrated with Ribbon Cutting
Veterans diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, who must travel to receive care at R.L. Roudebush VA Medical Center have a new place to stay thanks to generous donors.
A guest suite at the Dr. Otis Bowen Veteran House has recently been refurbished so Veterans living with ALS now have access to a specially equipped room with a hospital bed, Hoyer lift, lift chair recliner, and a fully accessible bathroom with bidet and specialized shower chair.
Leah Darling, LCSW ALS Social Worker/ALS Clinic Coordinator at RLR VAMC said, “Many Veterans must travel a great distance from their homes to access the care provided by the Indianapolis VAMC ALS Clinic. The ALS guest room will provide for the needs of Veterans with advanced illness and ensure they can comfortably and safely access the care they need.”
ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, resulting in muscle deterioration and loss of movement. People with ALS lose the ability to move, eat, speak, and eventually, to breathe. Average life expectancy for ALS is two to five years after symptom onset. There is no cure for ALS.
For unknown reasons, Veterans are twice as likely to develop ALS in comparison to those who have not served in the military. In response to this finding, VA considers ALS a presumptive condition for service-connected disability. The Indianapolis VA offers comprehensive and high-quality ALS interdisciplinary care to Veterans living with ALS.
The Indianapolis VA ALS Clinic, one of three ALS clinics in Indiana, provides care for, on average, 60 Veterans at any given time. Staffed with a dozen ALS specialists, Veterans travel from all over Indiana, Illinois and Michigan to receive care at the clinic.
Veterans diagnosed with ALS are considered service connected regardless of when or where they served in the military. The rating criteria for ALS in VA’s Schedule for Rating Disabilities is dependent upon the severity of the disease and its effect on the body systems involved. The minimum rating for ALS is 100 percent. Learn more here: VA ALS System of Care VHA Directive.
The Dr. Otis Bowen Veteran House provides free accommodations for RLR VAMC veteran patients who live outside a 50 miles radius and who are scheduled for clinic appointments, procedures, or surgeries. The Dr. Otis Bowen Veteran House features 22 furnished guest suites all equipped with private wheelchair accessible bathrooms, a fully equipped common kitchen with wheelchair access, dining area, laundry, recreation rooms a gym and a patriotic outdoor patio that honors Veterans and supporters with inset commemorative bricks. If you believe you meet the requirements to stay at the Dr. Otis Bowen Veteran House, please contact your VA provider.