Serving those who served: Brooksville Community Based Outpatient Clinic cares for Hernando County Veterans

The clinic is staffed with seven primary care doctors. These doctors have made it a priority to see new patients in a timely manner, noting that no Veteran will wait longer than 20 days for their first appointment. 

“Our access is excellent. We are one of the better clinics in the Tampa area for access. If you are new in our clinic, you will get seen within 20 days,” Chief Medical Officer, Thompson Matthews said. It’s a commitment Matthews holds in his role as an internal medicine physician. 

He has been working at the Brooksville CBOC for 11 years. He is responsible for the management and overall care at the clinic. 

The clinic cares for 7,000 Veterans in the Hernando County area. Veterans can receive a variety of services including: 

● Audiology 

● Podiatry 

● Mental health 

● Lab services 

● Nutrition 

● Social work 

● Pharmacy consultative services 

● Phlebotomy 

● Respiratory therapy 

● Telehealth services 

Veterans who use these services explained, they appreciate the efficiency and short wait times. “The wait times are extremely minimal,” U.S. Army Veteran Allen Kline stated. 

Kline has been receiving care at the clinic for 10 years. He prefers to go to the Brooksville CBOC over James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital in Tampa. Kline doesn’t drive so having to travel from Brooksville to Tampa is challenging. “What that does is it eliminates having to drive to James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital in Tampa, which the traffic and the distance, is a little bit of a problem,” Kline stated. 

The Brooksville CBOC doesn’t have the same amount of specialty doctors as James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital, but Veterans can still access that care without having to make the drive. In addition to in-person care, the clinic connects veterans with specialty providers through telehealth.

Patients can schedule virtual appointments with other VA doctors that aren’t located at the Brooksville location. “We connect Veterans here at the Brooksville Clinic with specialists at the Tampa VA, so it saves them time, money and travel in gas,” a nurse, Kristen Pfeifer explained. 

The clinic is managed so patients know they are not just a number. “What I ask my staff to do is treat these patients like they are your family,” Matthews added. 

Veterans value the long-standing dedication of staff members who have served at the Brooksville CBOC for many years. Some employees have been working there for more than a decade. Kline explained that some of his caretakers have become like family. “Many of the people here, from the day I walked into this clinic, are still here.” 

For example, Shannon La Belle has been a registered nurse at the Brooksville Clinic for 17 years. “I’ve cared for Veterans who were WWII veterans and now I’m caring for their sons. So, it’s very special to me. It’s personal,” La Belle said. 

Other employees make patients feel comfortable because they are also Veterans who served our country. “I was a medic in the Air Force and deployed once to Iraq, so I feel like I have a special connection with the patients when they come in,” a clinical audiologist, Brendan McAteer said. 

When caring for Veterans, safety is the number one priority for those at the clinic. The Brooksville CBOC is always staffed with members from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Police. Their job is to make sure all veterans are safe as they receive high quality care. “We are further trained in de-escalation techniques than the outside officers are,” Sgt. Donovan Holdway stated. 

This allows our country’s heroes to receive the care they need in a safe environment and to live a healthy life. “I would say, if you’re not signed up for VA healthcare, you need to do it as soon as possible and if you’re in a proximity situation to get to this clinic, do it,” Kline added.