On May 17, 2024, Navy Veteran Robert Vanbrocklin and Army Veteran Dan McKeany’s air ambulance stories were featured in the Washington Post:
Rural America faces a deepening health care crisis. With over 85 million residents, including 4.7 million Veterans, these communities experience significant health disparities compared to urban areas. Economic pressures and shrinking health care networks are leading to the loss of both rural hospitals and specialty care physicians. This alarming trend includes the closure of over 136 rural hospitals since 2010.1
This makes air ambulances, which provide vital emergency transport, an increasingly critical lifeline for rural America to get access to the nearest hospital or trauma center.
Unfortunately, despite this reality, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is considering a policy change that will leave even more Veterans, particularly those in rural areas, without access to emergency care when they need it most.
Click here to read about Robert and Dan’s stories and why SOAR is fighting to protect access to air emergency medical services.