VA doctor goes beyond the call for Island veterans - Martha's Vineyard Times

RP Members it's always great to hear about someone or something that the VA Health Administration is doing positive for our Veterans!

On a recent Thursday, Dr. Monty VanBeber left his Hyannis home at 4:30 in the morning, picked up his support staff, and got to Wood’s Hole for the 6 am boat. Usually he sees about 15 patients in a day when he makes his monthly trip to see Island veterans. On that day he would see 22.

“The number gets higher each time we come,” nurse Ashley Rokosz told The Times during a short break in their busy day at Martha’s Vineyard Hospital (MVH). “We add two or three each visit.”

Even though he was on the tail end of a workday that began well before dawn, Dr. VanBeber’s (pronounced Webber) energy was unflagging. Nattily dressed and looking much younger than his 47 years, he spoke passionately about his work. “This is more than a job for me,” he said. “I’m a service-connected veteran. I understand what the issues are.”

Dr. VanBeber, associate chief of community-based outpatient clinics for the Providence Veterans Administration Medical Center in Rhode Island, has been treating Island veterans for three years, and he’s been working in the Veterans Administration (VA) system for 10 years. His primary practice is in Hyannis. He also sees patients in Middletown and New Bedford, and he makes a weekly trip to the Providence VA Medical Center, the closest VA hospital to Martha’s Vineyard.

Dr. VanBeber and officials from the VA and Health Net will attend a community meeting at American Legion Post 257 in Vineyard Haven on Tuesday, Feb. 16, at 4 pm to field questions and address issues Island vets have with health care within the VA system.