Veterans and their families are invited to upcoming Veteran Town Halls in Iron, Oneida, and Forest Counties next month.
Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center in Iron Mountain will be hosting the meetings in Mercer, Minocqua and Rhinelander on March 13 and Laona on March 14.
Spokesperson Tim Ellison says about four times a year they go out to talk with veterans within their service area to get veterans up to date about what is happening with the Veterans Administration and clinics in their areas. He says there's a number of issues to discuss...
"We're going to be talking about our whole-health initiative. We'll be talking about suicide prevention and asking the public for help on that and discussing some of the improvement projects around the facility and construction projects. But the focus is the hot topics the veterans bring to the town hall..."
For those that are unable to come in person, the Rhinelander town hall will also be streamed live on the Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center’s Facebook page, and the video post will be available for later viewing. Ellison says they want to meet with as many veterans as possible...
"...If you know a veteran not currently using our services I would encourage you to invite them to this event. That's one of our main focus points is to get new veterans enrolled and get them linked up with VA services. I'm a veteran and I have pretty good(private) insurance. I have options to go anywhere I want to. I choose to come to the VA because they know my specific needs and they treat me very well...."
Ellison says any topic is open at the town halls. The town halls are open to all veterans, their families and friends, and the public.
Here's a listing of dates, times and locations: The Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center will be hosting town halls March 13 in Mercer, WI, at the Mercer Town Hall (2657 Railroad St.) at 10 a.m.; in Minocqua at American Legion Post 89 (121 Front St.) at 2 p.m.; and in Rhinelander at AMVETS Post 724 (1002 Coon St.).at 5:00 p.m.
On Thursday, March 14, a town hall will be held in Laona, WI, at the Community Center (5233 Beech St.) at 10 a.m.
