By Rick Rogers
For The North County Times

Manpower and resources are flowing into North County as local and federal offices ramp up services for an estimated 75,000 former service members, including thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans.

Last month the Department of Veterans Affairs opened a $40 million clinic in Oceanside, where veterans will increasingly go for specialty care once only available in distant La Jolla.

This summer the Oceanside clinic is expected to begin booking compensation and pension evaluations, another first for North County. Such evaluations are necessary to determine a disability rating, which in turn determines benefits. The process can take months.

This explosion of VA services has been a long time coming and is a bow to a burgeoning veteran population.

"Studies have shown that there are lots of veterans in North County and that their need for services have increased," said Cindy Butler, public affairs director for the VA San Diego Healthcare System. "We also know that a lot of vets don't want to drive all the way to La Jolla from Oceanside, especially for specialty care."

In the past, Butler said, North County VA clinics offered little beyond primary medical care and limited mental health services. Now, "there are a lot of services up there and we are in the process of adding more."

Since the Oceanside clinic's "soft opening" on May 25, Butler said, an increasing numbers of veterans have transferred their care there from other San Diego VA locations.

Initially the clinic will provide primary care in mental health, audiology, optometry, women's health and laboratory services with future services including radiology, dental, and rehabilitation therapy.

Dermatology, orthopedics and urology will headline the specialty care there once available.

On the local side, the San Diego County Veteran Services Office has beefed its North County outreach program to enroll more veterans into state and federal programs.

"Right now North County is our focus," said Tom Splitgerber, San Diego County Veteran Service officer. "We want to have more of a presence there are 75,000 veterans along the I-78 corridor. That's a lot of veterans."

And a lot of demand.

In 2009, the San Diego VA logged about 54,400 outpatient visits at the Vista and Escondido vet clinics. With increasing numbers of veterans residing in North County, the VA expects that number to rise. Once the Oceanside clinic gets up to speed, the 65,465-square-foot clinic will provide up to 100,000 outpatients appointments a year.

Approximately 8,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans live in San Diego County and are enrolled in the San Diego VA. The VA was unable to say how many of them live in North County, but in the number is thought to be significant.

California lags behind states like Texas and Florida when it comes to landing federal benefits for its 2.1 million military veterans, according to a state audit report published in October 2009, which said better coordination among state, federal and county veteran service organizations and more robust outreach is needed to turn the tide.

The report said that 12.86 percent of the state's veteran community receive compensation and pension benefits. The national average is 13.94 percent. The state would like to reach the 15 percent mark this year, according to the California Department of Veterans Affairs.
The compensation gap is greater when California is compared with other states with large veteran populations, such as Texas and Florida, which have participation rates of 16.73 percent and 14.88 percent, respectively.

Splitgerber said county veteran benefit experts are now spending more time in North County enrolling veterans: Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays at Interfaith Community Services in Escondido and Wednesdays at the San Marcos vet Center.