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West Plains , MO — To help Veterans become acquainted with VA’s many smartphone apps and online care options available to them, the John J. Pershing VA Medical Center will open a new Virtual

Health Resource Center (VHRC) in the lobbies of its clinics in West Plains and Poplar Bluff in June and July. The West Plains VHRC will open June 12 and run every Wednesday and Thursday

from 8:00 a.m. until noon, while the Poplar Bluff VHRC will open on July 31. It will be open Thursdays from 8:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.  The VRHC will be a central hub for information about

VA’s apps and virtual care services, according to Wanda Jones, facility telehealth coordinator. “VA has a lot of mobile apps that are free to Veterans,” explained Jones. “The Virtual Health

Resource Center is a place where Veterans, their caregivers, and employees can go to get information about things like the My HealtheVet service, clinical video telehealth, VA Video Connect,

and more. “There’s even an app that will allow them to be able to chat with someone from the call center, change their appointment, and order medication refills without having to come in.

They can even see a provider if they need to.” VA, according to Jones, understands many Veterans may struggle with newer technology, including their electronic devices, so there’s a great

need for the assistance the VHRC can provide. “Some Veterans feel like they don’t have the capability of using the tools we have,” Jones explained, “so the face-to-face visits at our Virtual

Health Resource Center will help them to navigate through their phone and get things put on their phone that they need. “Sometimes trying to learn something new over a phone call is not

always easy for them, but having a place where they can come in and see someone face-to-face, who can show them how to use it, will be a benefit to the Veteran. That’s the idea … we want to

help them get more comfortable with the tools.” VA’s apps and tools for virtual care are especially important in rural settings, Jones said, where drive times to VA clinics are longer and

traveling can be difficult for some Veterans. “Some Veterans don’t want to, or can’t, come into the hospital or clinic, so these online options are a way to offer care to our Veterans

without them having to drive in,” she said. “They just make health care more convenient.” In the future, Jones hopes to expand the Virtual Health Resource Center concept to other John J.

Pershing VA Medical center facilities, but in the meantime, she hopes Veterans will visit the Virtual Health Resource Center closest to them.  “We’re here to help the Veterans,” she said,

“and we really would like to see them take advantage of this great opportunity to learn and, at the same time, get their virtual health care questions answered.” For more information about

this and other programs at the John J. Pershing VA Medical Center and its community clinics, please call 573-686-4151 or visit https://www.va.gov/poplar-bluff-health-care/.