The new director at Altoona’s Van Zandt VA Medical Center says she hopes to increase the number of services available to area veterans. Currently, the facility doesn’t provide specialty services such as cardiology and cancer treatment, so veterans must travel to Pittsburgh for treatment.
Sigrid Andrew said her goal is to offer those services in Altoona through the use of telemedicine and visiting clinics.
“If we can establish clinics whether it be four hours a week, two days a week, bring that provider in from the Pittsburgh VA, we would like to do that as well. But we need to establish what our needs are here in Altoona,” she explained.
Andrew said the chief of staff from the Pittsburgh VA Medical Center is in Altoona to assess which specialty services are needed. She said she’s already requested iPads for exam rooms, so that telemedicine can be used for consults with specialists in Pittsburgh.
The director said her background as a nurse impacts how she makes decisions as an administrator.
“I think when you’re dealing with the costs and the budget and when you have to make choices, being a nurse does allow you to fairly balance and to fairly assess what the needs really are, because, at the end of the day, the patient, the veteran, is at the center of all decisions and you will always weigh on the side of the patient ,” Andrew said.