va hospital (Anchorage, Fairbanks, Kenai: calculation, salary, to live in)

[calicocutie]

My husband is a disabled veteran. Are there any VA hospitals in Alaska? Also are there any military commissaries anywhere in Alaska? We know we want to move to AK but aren't sure just where. We want to be close to some sort of shopping--for food not frivolous stuff. Yet at the same time we want a small town but still be away from the center. Any suggestions? For some reason we keep going back to Glennallen.` Don't know why. Haven't been able to find pictures of it anywhere. If anyone has some, please post. Thanks

[Tressa]

Anchorage has a very nice VA Hospital and fairly new, unfortunatly there's not really any small towns around us, meaning Anchorage is not that big and then you have Eagle River smaller but growing, Wasilla growing big time now too. I'm not sure about additional VA Hospitals in Alaska but since we are the largest city up here it would make sense to have it in our area. Elmendorf AFB has a great hospital but not exactly sure if a retired vet can use their hospital with a VA hospital next door.

[mal_flisk]

I'm retired and use Elmendorf, but the VA has a new facility going up right now. The current VA facility is on the Alaska Regional Medical Center grounds in Anchorage.

[rotorhead]

Glennallen is a LONG way from the VA hospital and the nearest commissary. In fact, its pretty much a long way from everything by road-system standards, though there is a clinic there with a bunch of very hard working folks. The "grocery store" there is a curious amalgam of long-shelf life junk food and canned items, with a few shelves reserved for ostensibly "fresh" items of dubious provenance. Its very, very flat though you can see some mountains in the distance. It can be pretty, at least from the air. Heres a shot I took about 10:30 at night, a few summers ago. Thats the Tazlina river, with the Wrangell mountains in the distance. Its also one of the few places where you can see the Alaska Pipeline from the highway, goes pretty much right through town.



Here's another shot on the highway up around Parks on the way from the MatSu to Glenallen; it's more indicative of the terrain. The "inverted-L" shaped poles are guides for the snowplows to find the road when it gets covered by drifts in the winter.

[calicocutie]

Thanks for the pictures! and the VA info. Where is Elmendorf--are there some small towns close by? As far as Anchorage goes we know we don't want a large city but are there some small towns nearby? Where we live now if my husband has to go to the VA hospital it's an hour and a quarter drive for us. That's not really a problem and the drive is nice both in terms of road conditions and scenery. We would want to live where the roads are. We don't want to live in a town you can only get to by plane. I hope that doesn't sound like we're being too fussy. Again, thanks for your input.

[mexicomike]

Dear Rosaire:
You ought to take a look at Yahoo Maps or something to get a feel of where Anchorage, Eagle River, etc. are located. Anchorage is in the Southcentral part of the state, and Elmendorf is on the east side of town (close to the mountains.) Wasilla is close as the crow flies, but, involves a 30 or 40 mile trip if the crow has to walk. It can be more than a notion in the winter!!
I am retired military and had very little luck with the AF hospital at Elmendorf. They are severely understaffed due to deployments. The VA hospital in Anchorage was kind of dicey also--my last attempt was several years ago and if I didn't go to the "ombudsman" they wouldn't have had anything to do with me.
For what it's worth, Fort Greely is up in Delta Junction. It has a commissary of course, but, except for Anch. I don't know of any VA facilities elsewhere. Good luck.

"mike"

[cblackwell]

Hi Rosaire,
At this website you can look up where VA facilities are located in each state. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs According to the website there is a Medical Center in Anchorage, outpatient clinics in Kenai and Fort Wainwright, and Vet Centers in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Soldotna and Wasilla. The website has more information and contacts where you can reach someone with questions. Mexicomike had a good idea. Use yahoo or google maps to get a good idea of where everything is. Hope that website helps!
Carrie

[william silvia]

I am a current VA employee (Nurse) looking for direct information on the "locality pay"
issue. I was told that eventually, "this locality pay would be turned into part of the "base
salary" for retirement purposes. I was wondering if anyone had a definate information
on the likelyhood of this happening.I am just looking ahead,to my eventual retirement
"top 3" calculation. This action would put Alaska VA on the same par as the V.A. Hospitals on the West Coast
of the U.S.

[RayinAK]

Fort Wainwright, in Fairbanks, has a brand new VA and active military Hospital

[User 2]

adn.com | Rural Alaska : VA's health services nonexistent in the Bush

U.S. Medicine Information Central

http://indian.senate.gov/public/_fil...rtestimony.pdf

State Summary: Alaska - Public and Intergovernmental Affairs

Alaska VA Healthcare System and Regional Office - Facilities Locator & Directory

Alaska Office of Veterans Affairs

VFW AK WebCOM Network - Veterans of Foreign Wars Department Alaska