North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System provides high-quality care for Women Veterans
PRESS RELEASE
February 16, 2022
Gainesville , FL — The North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System has strategically enhanced services and access for women Veterans. Women Veterans represent one of the fastest growing population of Veterans in the United States.
There are over 2 million women Veterans of the nearly 22 million living Veterans representing 9.2 percent of the total Veteran population, and Florida is amongst the top 5 states with the largest number of women Veterans.
“In fiscal year 2021, we served more than 18,000 women Veterans which is an increase of about 17 percent from the previous year,” said Women Veterans Program Manager, Cheryl Tillman.
Tillman functions as an administrative leader for the Women’s Health program and is an advocate for women Veterans.
“In the past several years we have seen a tremendous influx of women to our system, and we have instituted many changes to improve care,” said Tillman. “Over the last year we have worked to hire a new maternity care coordinator who now follows over 300 pregnant women Veterans providing case management throughout their pregnancy, post-partum and lactation time. The maternity care coordinator also serves as a point of contact for anyone needing information about infertility benefits.”
Once eligibility has been established, NF/SGVHS women Veterans are taken care of by trained and experienced Designated Women’s Health Primary Care Providers who can provide general primary care and gender specific primary care in the context of a longitudinal patient/provider relationship.
Other health services available to women include gynecology, obstetrics, female urology, oncology, medicine, radiology, surgery, ultrasounds, mammograms, pap, HIV testing, mental health care, lifestyle wellness, menopause treatment, hormonal therapy, family planning and more!
Additionally, VA has expanded eligibility for both male and female Veterans in need of health care for mental and physical health conditions resulting from military sexual trauma (MST). Now Veterans who experienced MST while on inactive duty training, not just active duty or active duty for training, can receive free MST-related health care with no need for documentation of the experience.
“In 1990, 2 percent of the military was composed of women. Currently, women Veterans represent over 14.2 percent of active-duty military and 18 percent of Guard and Reserve force. Since 2000 the number of women Veterans using VA health care has more than doubled,” said David Isaacks, North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System Executive Director. “Attending to their needs and enhancing services for women Veterans is important if we want to continue to be the provider of choice for America’s heroes.”
The VA’s Women Veterans Call Center, 1-855-VA-WOMEN (1-855-829-6636) is available for women Veterans to call and learn of VA benefits and services. Call Center staff makes referrals to Women Veteran Program Managers (WVPM), the Health Eligibility Center, the Veterans Benefits Administration and VCL and VA’s National Call Center for Homeless Veterans.
To learn more about the NF/SGVHS Women Veterans program, visit: Programs | VA North Florida/South Georgia Health Care | Veterans Affairs. Subscribe to receive updates via email, or connect with us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/VANFSG, Instagram at: www.instagram.com/vanfsg, or follow us on twitter at:
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