By Margaret Hopper 

(from left) Jared Howard, Assistant Director, Santa Fe National Cemetery; Andrew Welch, Director of the New Mexico VA Health Care System; and Timothy Love, Service Center Manager, Albuquerque VA Regional Office (Courtesy Photo)A number of local and state people from the Veteran's Administration were available to talk with veterans and their families on Tuesday, November 29, at the American Legion Hall.

Andrew Welch, Director of New Mexico VA Health Care Systems, opened the general information portion at the podium, introducing Tim Love, Acting Director of the VA Regional Office tasked with benefits, and Jared Howard, Assistant Director of Santa Fe National Cemetery and Fort Bayard National Cemetery.

A general wide shot of the meeting. (Courtesy Photo)Representatives of several VA programs were on hand at the town hall meeting to offer information to those attending. (Courtesy Photo)(from left) Jared Howard, Assistant Director, Santa Fe National Cemetery; Timothy Love, Service Center Manager, Albuquerque VA Regional Office; Andrew Welch, Director of the New Mexico VA Health Care System (Courtesy Photo)Saying these three departments were serving locally, Welch noted that Health Care was undergoing many changes at this time, looking in many directions to make options more convenient for the veterans. One improvement involved pharmacy help. With the new secure message system, people could get information on prescriptions they were now taking or renew them by phone.

Some information could be gathered and relayed by TeleHealth, such as blood pressure and heart facts, body scans and dermatology work. Other things still required person-to-person contacts, but this electronic aid was coming, he said. Albuquerque and Las Cruces already had it. Across the state, the New Mexico Nursing Association had announced its recent Best Nurses awards, and of the 20 recognized, five of them came from the veteransG