07.11.14

Hoeven Announces Grant to Improve Health Care Access for North Dakota Veterans

BISMARCK, N.D. – Senator John Hoeven today announced that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has awarded the North Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs a more than $375,000 grant to improve access to health care for veterans living in rural areas. The grant will fund transportation services for veterans to travel to VA medical centers and other facilities providing VA care, and the grant will benefit approximately 5,477 veterans living in 36 counties in North Dakota.

“One of the most tangible ways we repay our tremendous debt to our veterans is by providing them with the quality health care they need when they leave the service,” Hoeven said. “To meet this objective, it is imperative that veterans living in more rural parts of North Dakota have good access to health care providers. We have been working hard to improve this access, and the VA grant to North Dakota is an important step in ensuring that our veterans have the transportation needed to receive health care.”

Hoeven has been pushing to get the VA to allow veterans in western North Dakota to use local health care providers when services aren’t available at the local VA clinic. To this end, Hoeven cosponsored bipartisan legislation to reform the VA and ensure that the veterans receive timely care. The bill recently passed in the Senate and will now go to conference with House-passed legislation.