The Dayton VA Medical Center has been busy, enrolling hundreds of newly eligible veterans, expanding primary care access, and more.
Dr. Jennifer DeFrancesco, who was named director for the Dayton VA Medical Center, shared these changes and more in a recent interview with WYSO All Things Considered Host Jerry Kenney. Here are three key takeaways from the interview.
1. Since the PACT ACT went into effect, over 450 newly eligible veterans enrolled at the Dayton VA.
On March 5, the VA expanded PACT Act, expanded VA health care and benefits to millions of veterans. Under the new law, many conditions are now automatically presumed to be service-connected. The VA has called it the largest expansion of veterans benefits in history.
The Dayton VA Medical Center is urging veterans to go to VA.gov/PACT to learn more and enroll.
DeFrancesco said the VA was enrolling veterans at about a net of 50 each week, which is significantly higher than they had seen before.
Statewide, around 32,000 Ohio veterans have now been granted VA medical benefits as part of the PACT Act.
2. The Dayton VA staff has been growing.
DeFrancesco said the Dayton VA has been expanding its capacity and improving access and wait times.
In 2023, the Dayton VA increased staff by 350 people — an increase in staff of more than 10%.
"People who we used to send to the community may not be eligible anymore because we've improved our access and wait times. Now we're in the process of really working to bring those folks back in," DeFrancesco said.
The Dayton VA increased primary care access by about 11%. Their inpatient occupancy has increased by about 9% year-to-date from last year, she said.
3. The Dayton VA is a National Historic Landmark.
The Dayton VA has been providing health care here on its campus for 157 years.
It received National Historic Landmark status in 2012.
A lot of history has happened on the campus in over 150 years — the building where they prep meals and make meals for veterans used to be a chow hall where Civil War soldiers used to eat.
"I love how honoring that heritage of healing and providing cutting-edge care kind of collides here," she said.
