Danville, Ill— VA Illiana Health Care System (VAIHCS) is working on a plan to move forward with expanding the number of face-to-face appointments after they were minimized in response to COVID-19. The facility will begin to add back some appointments for the Danville location on June 1, 2020.
“The safety of Veterans and staff is the highest priority when we consider how we provide health care services and procedures during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,” Shawn Bransky, VA Illiana Director, said. “VA will consider guidance from various agencies including federal, state and local government as we gradually reintroduce health care services. Safety is always paramount and will continue to guide our decision making.”
VAIHCS will begin to marginally increase specialty care at the Danville facility first. These specialty care clinics include audiology, cardiology, chiropractic, gastroenterology, infectious disease, interventional pain, nephrology, ophthalmology, nephrology, optometry, physical rehabilitation, podiatry, prosthetics, pulmonary, urology and wound care. Elective surgical procedures will also resume. Beginning June 8th, additional face to face primary care appointments will be offered at the Danville facility as well as the Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs).
Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has developed a risk-based framework to prioritize non-urgent procedures, in addition to the urgent procedures currently being performed. Evaluation of factors such as patient health, staff safety and resource considerations will guide expansions and scheduling decisions. Rigorous safety measures including employee and Veteran COVID-19 screening, physical distancing and appropriate personal protective attire such as face coverings and frequent disinfection of high-touch services will remain in place at all VHA facilities.
While VAIHCS is beginning to increase the volume of face-to-face visits, Veterans are reminded that walk-in clinics are not open at this time. Only patients with a confirmed scheduled appointment should present to the facility, unless they are experiencing an urgent medical issue. Veterans are also encouraged to present to the facility no earlier than 30 minutes before their scheduled appointment to assist in maintaining physical distancing. Urgent medical and mental health care remains open and available. If you are a Veteran patient who would like to be seen, please call 217-554-4444 to make an appointment beforehand.
VAIHCS will continue to offer personalized virtual care options like telehealth, phone consults and wellness checks, as we know these services have been a valuable link to our Veterans during this challenging time. As additional facilities reintroduce services across the country, VAIHCS will share best practices learned with all facilities across the country.
For more information about VAIHCS, visit www.danville.va.gov/ or https://www.facebook.com/VADanville/.
