| Compton: Hospital adds a physician to the relocated Ventura clinic By George Compton The Veterans Affairs community clinic in Ventura has relocated to 120 N. Ashwood Ave. That facility is a great improvement over the previous location. With the move, Community Memorial Hospital has added another physician to that facility. On behalf of all the veterans of Ventura County, I would like to commend the hospital and VA Healthcare for continuing to add physicians to our clinics, keeping our waiting time for appointments among the lowest in the nation. Q. My husband has diabetes and is receiving compensation from the VA. He is going to have a leg amputated. Will the VA provide him with an artificial limb? A. The VA will certainly provide the device. He will be compensated at the 100 percent rate while recovering, and the loss of limb is also service-connected. Because his diabetes is service-connected, any other medical condition caused by diabetes is also service-connected. He needs to contact this office so we can discuss reopening his claim and other benefits because of the situation. Q. I applied for a replacement of my medals that I earned in the service and I received all but one. The letter that came with the medals stated that the government does not supply that medal. Can you explain? A. The medal in question was not awarded by the United States, it was awarded by Korea. There are many military supply stores, including on the Internet, where you can purchase that medal. Q. My grandfather served in World War I and has a headstone provided by the VA. It has been damaged more than once and is now in very poor condition. Will the VA replace the headstone? A. The VA will replace damaged headstones. Bring in a picture of the headstone with as much information about your grandfather that you can locate. You also need to talk with the cemetery staff about size of a new headstone and about any setting fee. — George Compton, retired Army colonel, is the veterans services officer for the County of Ventura, Human Services Agency. Send your questions to Veterans Service Office, 1701 Pacific Ave., Suite 110, Oxnard, CA 93033; phone number: 385-6366; fax: 385-6371; or e-mail: George.Compton@ventura.org. |