Thanking veterans for their service is thoughtful.
Providing services to veterans is impactful.
Connecting veterans to the services they need and deserve … is a challenge. Especially when it comes to health care.
Last week, on a picture-perfect day at the Cherry Blossom Welcome Center in Branch Brook Park in Newark, Braven Health sponsored a health fair for veterans that aims to do just that.
The event, which drew hundreds of veterans from Essex County and beyond, provided health screenings for key issues impacting the veterans’ community (whether it be mental health concerns stemming from PTSD or physical ailments, such as diabetes). It also offered opportunities to interact with safety net and human services organizations.
More than that, it was an opportunity to show veterans that they have not been forgotten.
Col. (Retired) Jeff Cantor, the director of product development and partnerships for Braven Health (and the head of the N.J. State Veterans Chamber of Commerce), said providing support for veterans is a key initiative at Braven Health — a Medicare Advantage program co-owned by Horizon Blue Cross/Blue Shield of New Jersey, RWJBarnabas Health and Hackensack Meridian Health.
“No one deserves our support more than veterans,” he said.
And that support should last for more than just one event.
Cantor said the goal of the day was to make an initial connection with veterans. The key will be continual follow-up.
“We need to make sure that health services for veterans is a 365-day-a-year mission,” he said. “Today is just the start.”
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Hackensack Meridian Health and RWJBarnabas Health are the two biggest health systems in the state – and seemingly always in a competition to offer bigger and better service options.
On this day, they were colleagues not competitors.
“When it comes to serving our veterans, we’re in this together,” said Margie Heller, a senior vice president for community and global health at RWJBH.
Services provided
As part of Braven Health’s ongoing mission to support the health and well-being of our nation’s heroes, attendees at the health fairs receives free health screenings and assessments, including:
- Cardiovascular screenings
- Asthma screenings
- Colorectal cancer test kits
- PSA – Prostate cancer screenings
- Sleep assessments
- Mental health checks
- Nutrition education
- Diabetes and stroke assessments
- A1C testing
- Pulmonary function testing
- Mobile mammography
- HIV testing
- Brain games
“They served our country and risked their lives to give us the freedom that we have, so it’s absolutely essential that we provide them access to the health care they deserve.”
Florey Cruz-Cerpa, the regional director in the north for community outreach and engagement at Hackensack Meridian Health, couldn’t agree more.
“Our mission is to make sure our communities are healthy – and making sure that our veterans’ community is as healthy as possible is one of our top priorities,” she said.
In the big room at the center, HMH and RWJBH set up rows of tables, side by side, that provided information and on-the-spot screening for issues impacting veterans.
These options came after veterans walked through an initial room of social services from organizations such as an area YWCA, Catholic Charities, Veterans Justice Initiative, N.J. Reentry Corporation, Reach for Recovery – as well as representatives from the state’s division of training and employment and department of health.
Outside were numerous services, including a mobile mammography unit providing free mammography services for female veterans – the fastest-growing group of veterans in the state.
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It takes a village to create a day such as.
All of the organizers gave credit to Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka for spreading the word, making the facility available – and then providing whatever transportation was necessary to get the veterans there.
“They will have shuttles and buses bringing people all day,” Cantor said. “Anyone who needed transportation to get here was picked up.
“Joe D and the mayor have been incredibly supportive from the start.”
A free meal was provided by Feeding Our Heroes.
The event was just the first in a series. Cantor said Braven Health aims to hold numerous such health fairs around the state – with the next coming June 24 in Hudson County (for more information on future events, go to the Veterans Foundation of America site here). https://thevfa.org/veterans-health-fairs
And while the day certainly brought services to those most deserving, the key is to ensure it is not a one-and-done event.
Cruz-Cerpa said the key is persistence – and patience.
“There always is hesitancy with veterans,” she said. “We need to understand that, understand that we may not become best friends on the first meeting – understand that we need to earn their trust.
“As health care providers, we always are eager to provide services. Sometimes, we need to step back and ask: What do you need, how can we help? The most important moments can come from those simple conversations.”
Heller said serving veterans always needs to be top of mind.
“This is the group that has done so much but asks for so little,” she said. “We need to make sure they get what they need, what they’ve earned – what they deserve.”
