Due to at 11pm central time $25.00

THERESA MC CLELLAND

HCS/525 Leadership

December 19, 2016

Introduction and summary of research

The paper gives descriptions of a proposal intended to introduce a New (VA) Veteran Affair clinic in Houston TX. The decision to introduce the clinic is based on numerous factors. First, a study conducted by the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) reveals that the current supply of VA health care services in Texas is not optimally aligned to meet veteran health care needs. The veterans who live in Texas are forced to travel several distances seeking for the medical services. The study further reveals that the demand for specialty outpatient services (clinic stops) is expected to increase. The widening gap in specialty outpatient care has implications for the service delivery options. There is also a rising demand for specialized outpatient treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The study further reveals that the existing clinics do not offer some of the emerging specialty needs. Veterans, for example, are facing several pressures managing their social life, and hence most of them experiences stress, which often lead to adverse health consequences.

The report by U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) reveals that most of the veterans experience mental problems. Consequently, the number of veterans requiring mental health services in Texas has increased significantly and will continue to rise. It is also revealed that many veterans living in rural areas do not have easy access to healthcare services offered by the federal government or state government. Most veterans, according to the study, have mobility problems. This bar them from seeking regular and recurrent care at VA facilities. The study also reveals that there is generational gap between modern veterans and the past veterans. This implies that most of the veteran hospitals and clinics do not meet the emerging needs. The gap is attributable to various deployment and introduction to unfriendly conditions, for example, urban battle, extemporized unstable gadgets, and suicide bombings. In addition, some veterans received “other than honorable” discharge from military due to small issues related to misconduct. Such veterans often have difficult accessing benefits. They find it hard accessing VA help, incapacity pay and state services, or nonprofit programs funded by government grants. Most of such veterans are homeless and often opt to drug abuse.

Type of services offered in local community

The federal government works with state government of Texas to offer basic veteran healthcare services. Some of the services include health benefits, funds, subsidies and inpatient services. Other services include VA help, incapacity pay and state services, or nonprofit programs funded by government grants.

Description of facility selected

The proposed facility intends to fill the gap related to veteran’s access to healthcare needs. The facility will be designed based on evidence-based design principles. This means that the design of the facility and the services that shall be included will differ significantly from the existing veteran clinics. A number of areas or services would be introduced. First, the number of beds will be increased to accommodate high influx of patients. Second, the number of beds per room will be reduced. Multi-bed rooms has been associated with lower discharge rate. Minimizing the number of beds per room may increase the healing process.

Based on the findings from the research, it is indicated that some veterans do not access VA help, incapacity pay and state services. The proposed facility is expected to offer such services at a subsidized amount. To achieve this, a proposal would be designed justifying why those veterans who received “other than honorable” discharge should be given equal rights like others. The proposal would then be send to the non-governmental institutions for grants and support. Then the facility will use such grants to come up with cheap and affordable services for veterans who received “other than honorable” discharge. The facility will also introduce wellness program where veterans can join and engage in wellness activities such as physical exercises, dancing, gym and socialize. The facility would be based on Blue Zone principles proposed by Dan Buettner. The principles reveals that the way the different people eat, interact with each other, shed stress, heal themselves, avoid disease, and view their world yields them more good years of life. The wellness program will be used to teach veterans on what they should do to shed stress. It will also be used to inform them of existing services and benefits.

Justification for the building

As indicated, the proposed building is meant to fill the existing gaps. The research reveals that there are many gaps related to veteran’s access to healthcare. Filling such health gap is therefore a noble move. Consequently, it is clear that the proposed building is feasible.

References