By: Diane Benjamin
Veterans with any difficulty walking can not take the bus to the new Veterans Clinic in south Bloomington. Since Connect Transit’s huge buses can not drop them at the door, disabled veterans won’t be able to navigate the snow packed sidewalk to get there.
The people willing to die to defend this country should not be forced to jump through hoops and pay more to ride a Mobility van just to get treatment.
Anybody at the City of Bloomington or Connect Transit care?
That is criminal this city,
the mayor and his goon squad make no money off the VA so screw them
Surprise! Left-wing governments tend to be lousy at providing basic services. Naked Magicians, yes. Basic services…….not so much.
Besides…..Veteran tend to be patriotic. Definitely not the “right fit” for the people in power. Illegals, deviants, welfare fraudsters, potheads, Antifa, yes. Veterans……not so much.
Tari, Jenn, and Crabill…..you own this!
Somebody SHOULD go hand Tari OR a council “person” a snow shovel and tell them “Get to it”
Is there not a city ordinance that requires sidewalks to be cleared by the property owner by a certain time of day and if so the realtor that has the property listed should inform the actual property owner of this infraction. This only partially mitigates a dumb inability to get our veterans to the door, I realize.
reprehensible
All those foot prints from just one day of snow…
Unfortunately wheelchair bound Veterans have to push their chairs in the street dodging traffic and pot holes. This was brought up to Connect when the VA wanted a bus to stop at the entrance. They did not care. As Kevin McCarthy put it why should Connect worry about the disabled when able body riders pay full fare. Full fair is $1.00, the disabled discount is minuscule. Connect and McCarthy have no sympathy.
Connect Transit is a political hackarama and ideological pipedream of the local political leaders. It’s all about the idea and good intentions to them…as always. The execution dosen’t matter.
I was at the VA facility yesterday with my 96 year old WW2 veteran father. We drove in a car. The place is very nice and new with few veterans there. I don’t see why Connect could not get a bus into the parking lot which is quite large or at least drop them at a spot on the street. There is lots of handicapped parking and the parking lot was clear of snow. Wouldn’t a handicapped veteran be in one of the smaller Connect buses? But the place is sort of remote, compared to other doctor offices in the area.
Speaking of government, the VA facility just got a phone system. Before that, you had to call Danville to make an appointment. Also most of the computers ( except for the one at the front desk) do not work in the exam rooms so doctors and nurses have to record notes on paper. All the equipment is brand new, but if it needs electronics to work, it probably isn’t working. They also seem short staffed , but I will say my dads physical history was very thorough and between the nurse and the doctor , they spent nearly an hour and a half with him. They plan in the future to bring in other specialists besides mental health doctors and internists. But first they need to get all their equipment working.
If anyone reading this is a vet or knows a vet who’s having trouble getting to an appointment (even if its non-VA), get them in touch with the VA Illiana point of contact for their veteran transportation program: https://www.va.gov/healthbenefits/vtp/map.asp#Illinois