JONES COUNTY, Ga. — Veterans in Jones County now have a new place to take care of their health needs. It involves one room with a laptop and free internet access.
"18 -- that's the picture they take at boot camp," says Ed Barbee as he reflects on his time as a Marine.
"I never was wounded," says Barbee.
He served his country for five years in the '60s during the Vietnam War. Now, he serves his community as the Mayor of Gray in Jones County.
His picture sits among several other local veterans in a room meant to help past soldiers.
Barbee says, "I hear about their struggles with the VA. It's just heart-wrenching."
Jones Health Department nurse manager Sherry Bryant says, "Telemedicine is over the computer." She explains how veterans use a laptop for checkups with the Carl Vinson Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
Bryant says doctors use, "a webcam -- he would see the patient, the patient would see the doctor."
Inside the veterans telemedicine room, they offer a laptop and free internet access.
Patients call the Dublin VA Medical Center to make an appointment with their doctor. Then, the doctor emails a link that veterans can pull up in the room and begin their appointment.
"They don't have to worry about, 'How am I going to get there?'" says Bryant.
Bryant says transportation to get to the doctor is sometimes the biggest challenge for patients. Bryant says,"Time is money, money is gas. They can come up here do their visit and it takes a lot of stress off them."
Bryant added patriotic decor, sprinkling in her personal ties to servicemen and woman with a picture of her grandmother in the Air Force.
Giving veterans an easily accessible place to receive health care while surrounded by Central Georgia veterans.
Veterans can schedule appointments every Thursday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
It's located inside the Jones County Health Department off Forest Street in Gray.
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