Director's Message September 23, 2022
VAPIHCS Veterans, Bridging the Digital Divide The digital divide is the gap between people who do and do not have internet access and internet-connected devices.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ Digital Divide Consult is a process that connects veterans who don’t have internet access or a video-capable device with programs and resources that provide the internet service or technology needed to access VA care through telehealth. Visit the Bridging the Digital Divide webpage to learn more: telehealth.va.gov/digital-divide. Even if you have internet access but it is not reliable, you may qualify for assistance.
Suicide Prevention Month
September is Suicide Prevention Month, but at VA we focus on mental health all year long. Mental health isn’t a single department here at VA Pacific Islands Health Care System (VAPIHCS). In our facilities, mental health professionals’ interface with every aspect of our programs. We want to ensure that we provide safe, compassionate, quality care. Every veteran qualifies for mental health care through VA, even if they don’t qualify for other services. So please, if you are struggling, reach out by calling 988 and then pressing 1.
I’d also like to remind veterans that suicide prevention is more than just signing people up for VA services so that they can access mental health care. It’s also about checking on your fellow soldiers once you get out. It’s about connecting with veterans’ organizations in your area. It’s about making connections between yourself and other veterans who understand what you are going through. Having a sense of community can literally be the difference between life and death. I challenge you all to reach out to folks that you served with and check on them. We’re all in this together because suicide prevention is everyone’s business.
Expanding Care
VAPIHCS is expanding care options for veterans in the Pacific Islands. I’d like to remind you that we opened our new Windward Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) last year. The new CBOC is located at 46-001 Kamehameha Hwy Ste. 301 in the Adventist Castle Professional Center. If you would like to transfer your care to this new CBOC, please call: 1-800-214-1306.
In addition, VA Pacific Island Health Care has a registered ATLAS (Accessing Telehealth through Local Area Stations) in Ocean View Community Center on the island of Hawaii. Veterans can have video visits with a private provider in private space. ATLAS sites will be available to veterans in Saipan (Tinian, Rota and Kagman) starting October 2022. Future ATLAS sites were recently identified in American Samoa.
In addition, the Daniel Akaka Advanced Leeward Outpatient Healthcare Access (ALOHA) clinic in Kapolei is under construction and should be completed in 2023. We are committed to giving veteran’s access to care as close as possible to where they live, and to making it easy for all veterans in the Pacific Islands to choose VA for their health care.
Million Veteran Program
The Million Veteran Program (MVP) is something that all veterans can participate in if they want to continue to serve their country. It involves collecting a sample of a Veterans’ DNA and using it to do studies into how to help fellow veterans and current active-duty soldiers. Understanding genetic conditions and how they manifest, the effects of military service on a body, and who is at an increased risk for certain issues can help medical professionals in many ways.
Last year, I gave a sample of my own DNA to the MVP. It is just one of the ways that I have continued to serve, even though I have retired from the Navy. I hope all my fellow veterans will consider donating to the Million Veteran Program.
Thoughts from Chaplain Richie Charles
The ancient craft of blacksmithing was essential in early America. Virtually any item made from metal – whether it was horseshoes, pots, pans, locks, or hammers, were forged in their shops. But to reshape metal into a needed object, blacksmiths understood the value of time. Once the blacksmith was able to heat metal to high enough temperatures, the metal became malleable, and the blacksmith was then able to reshape the material into the desired end. Blacksmiths understood that they had a very short window of opportunity. The minute the metal was removed from the fires of the forge, the blacksmith had to operate in a race against time. The longer they waited to act upon the hot metal, the cooler, and less malleable the iron would become. This gave birth to the phrase "strike while the iron is hot”. That is, they had to hammer, or strike the iron, while it was still hot.
But iron isn’t the only thing that cools down with time. Have you ever felt “fired up” with a sense of inspiration to launch into a new project, pursue a course of additional training, or bring a new idea from thought to reality, only to have that sense of fiery inspiration and motivation fade away over time? In the world of business, author and speaker Jim Rohn referred to this as the “Law of Diminishing Intent”. He noticed that the longer he waited to act upon an idea after the moment of initial inspiration, the less likely he was to ever do it. He observed that his sense of inspiration diminished the more time passed without acting upon it. Has this ever happened to you? The solution? Never leave the moment of initial inspiration without taking at least one decisive step in the direction of your goals. That one, tangible step, followed by continued sustained actions, will create a sense of momentum that can help keep us moving in the direction of bringing our dreams into reality.
One Team, One Ohana!
Adam M. Robinson, Jr., MD, MBA, CPE
Director, VA Pacific Islands Health Care System
VADM, MC, USN, (RET)
36th Surgeon General, USN
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