Veterans van change leads to protest by drivers

Some volunteer van drivers quit in protest recently after the Disabled American Veterans eliminated overnight trips for the van taking patients from Kalispell to the veterans hospital in Helena.

Frank Andrade, a volunteer driver and former program coordinator, said the DAV now requires one-day turnarounds, resulting in 12-hour days for drivers. He said the change reflected the Veterans Affairs hospital's desire to save money on hotels.

"I had seven drivers quit," he said.

However, Alvy Chapman, state commander of the DAV, said the hotel money savings played a small role in the decision. He said an 11-member transportation committee of the DAV recommended the change.

"What we're trying to do is maximize the use of our vans," Chapman said. "We're trying to impact as many veterans as we can."

He said DAV records indicate only two drivers quit. Chapman said there may be more but he was not aware of them.

"I personally have met with drivers from the Kalispell area who support this decision 100 percent," Chapman said.

He said he regretted that Andrade and some drivers were fighting the change. He called their volunteer service "awesome."

Without a coordinator and more drivers on board soon, he said the community could lose the DAV's free transportation to the Fort Harrison hospital. But he committed "to fight that result to the very end."

According to Chapman, the DAV can't justify having two vans in the Flathead making just one overnight trip a week with about eight people. His records show one van traveled more than 400 miles a week and the other was hardly used at all.

Chapman said he told Andrade of the change last October, hoping he would educate and prepare the community for the one-day trips.

He said veterans here have complained that they couldn't afford to give up two days for a 20-minute appointment at the VA hospital. Chapman hopes to institute trips on Tuesdays and Thursdays with a goal of daily trips down the road.

"Billings runs almost full every day," he said. "Often, they have a second van right behind the first."

Andrade has a different view of the situation. He said he is convinced the VA forced the change to save on hotel costs for patients and drivers.

A volunteer for six years as a driver and more than three as a coordinator, he put in five days a week getting Flathead veterans signed up for rides to see specialist physicians, dentists and other medical professionals at Fort Harrison.

He either drove the van or found other drivers to take patients to Helena on Wednesday morning, then bring them back on Thursday. They left at 7 a.m. to arrive at the VA hospital by 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., depending on the weather.

Patients would schedule appointments, often with more than one physician, to finish up by 2:30 p.m. Thursday. The van then returned them to the Flathead by late afternoon.

He said drivers frequently face hazardous road conditions, now made worse by fatigue.

Andrade said he quit his unpaid coordinator position in protest.

"I'm not going to be responsible if someone gets hurt," he said.

Chapman responded that the DAV van program policy requires drivers to cancel trips when there are hazardous road conditions. He said patients understand that may happen when they sign up for the service.

"We don't want to put volunteers in dangerous situations," he said.

He pointed out that not every volunteer is up to serving as a van driver.

Chapman said some volunteers in their 80s drive the van back and forth between Billings and Fort Harrison every day. Program coordinators monitor the health and ability of drivers.

"It operates like clockwork in every other part of the state," Chapman said.

Andrade disputes the validity of comparisons to the Billings program. He said the drive between Kalispell and Helena is longer and includes many miles of single-lane, mountain roads compared to the Billings route over Interstate highways.

However, Chapman said he personally timed the drive by the longer route on U.S. 93 through Missoula rather then the Swan Highway. He said it took four hours which, added to three to four hours in Helena, added up to about a 12-hour day.

According to Chapman, that time frame falls within the U.S. Department of Transportation standards for drivers. He said the road condition argument didn't hold water, either.

"We've got vans running on secondary highways all over the state," he said.

Delving into the history, Chapman discovered that the overnight trips started when the Kalispell vans drove a circuit, picking up patients in East Glacier, Browning and Shelby. But as the program expanded from four to 41 vans statewide, Kalispell drivers no longer drove extremely long routes that justified overnight stays.

Andrade argues that the new policy doesn't just put drivers under a strain. He said some elderly patients find the trip too taxing with long hours of riding and only three hours in Fort Harrison to see physicians.

Ron Balas, administrator at the Montana Veterans Home in Columbia Falls, agreed that the change has caused a hardship for the small number of his residents who use the van service.

"It makes for a very long day, both for the driver and the patients," he said.

Balas said the policy change also has caused scheduling headaches for his transportation coordinator since most residents see more than one medical professional when they make the long trip. They now have a small window to complete all appointments.

Balas said only the 12 domicile residents at the Veterans Home were affected rather than the 105 nursing-home patients who receive most of their care from Glacier Medical Associates of Whitefish.

Those who use the van must get up for pickup at 6 a.m. and sometimes return at 7 p.m. - sometimes as late as 9 p.m.

Chapman said that the van program was never designed to serve every veteran.

"I don't want to diminish the hardship," Chapman said.

He said the VA offers options for travel for patients unable to handle the long ride. Depending on the circumstance, the VA will pay for overnight stays for patients or send an ambulance to pick them up.

For instance, he said a person who needed same-day surgery could stay overnight and get picked up the next day either by a Flathead driver or a volunteer in Helena could take them back.

Chapman said a large number of vets, such as those with severe disabilities, don't fit the van program. He said he heard from a elderly Coast Guard veteran here with a legitimate reason to stay overnight instead of traveling in one day.

"That's something they can work out with the VA," he said.

Since his initial interview, Andrade contacted the Inter Lake to say he has offered to continue as coordinator but not as a van driver. He made the offer because he said participation in the van program has dropped precipitously since he quit and he was encouraged to continue by local VA clinic staff.

"Since March 6, they've only taken seven patients," he said.

Chapman was aware that numbers were lower. He said he didn't know the reason but said a temporary coordinator was trying to fill in as he worked with a potential candidate to coordinate the van program.

"We are sort of in a transitional period," he said.

The two men agree on one thing: They both want the van transportation program to continue.

Chapman wants to expand the program to serve the Flathead's growing population.

If more people knew about the van service, Chapman said, more patients would use it and more veterans would volunteer.

Anyone interested in volunteering for the program may contact Lauri Grantier, DAV transportation, or Dean Sowers at (406) 442-6410.

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.