Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital (Bedford VAMC)
The LVA honors and supports our fellow veterans in long term care at the Bedford VAMC, as well as the formerly homeless veterans residing at the Bedford Green apartments nearby. Our efforts include:
- Supporting “Operation Mail Call” by encouraging members to send cards of support to veterans and caregivers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Launching live streaming of our programs directly to veterans in long term care
- Helping to create a monthly lecture series for resident veterans.
- Sponsoring an annual collection drive to assist formerly homeless veterans living at the Bedford Green apartments on the base.
- Collecting magazines, greeting cards, calendars and stationery items at each meeting for delivery to the Bedford VA.
- Donating audio book cartridges to Veterans who are isolated and count on these books for diversion and education.
You can help the Bedford VA, too!
Consider donating one or more audiobook cartridges to the Bedford VA Hospital.
The hospital cannot accept cash donations, so if you would like to help, we suggest that you purchase cartridges ($9.99 each) directly from Amazon.
Please have the cartridges sent to Voluntary Services at the following address:
VA Bedford Healthcare System
ATTN: Voluntary Services, Building 61
200 Springs Road
Bedford, MA 01730
781-687-2356
The flyer below provides a full explanation.
Please have the cartridges sent to Voluntary Services at the following address:
VA Bedford Healthcare System
ATTN: Voluntary Services, Building 61
200 Springs Road
Bedford, MA 01730
781-687-2356
The flyer below provides a full explanation.
Audiobooks are popular among Veterans who are patients at the hospital and have become especially so during the Covid-19 crisis. Normally audiobooks borrowed from the Bedford VA Library are listened to and returned to the library to be reloaded with a new book in a timely fashion. The pandemic has disrupted the recovery of cartridges for re-use, necessitating increased purchases of new cartridges
In the spring, the Coronavirus played havoc with the lives of many hospitalized Veterans. Hundreds of inpatients tested positive for the virus and sadly, many died from complications of Covid-19. Entire floors of the hospital were converted to special Covid-19 treatment facilities, necessitating the relocation of the Veterans who resided there. And Veterans who contracted the virus were moved from their rooms to the Covid-19 treatment areas.
We applaud the heroic efforts of the VA staff who worked tirelessly to control the virus and protect the patients. Over much of the summer and fall there were no new positive Covid-19 cases, and things were slowly returning to normal.
But with the recent resurgence of the virus, a number of inpatients have tested positive, and the hospital has returned to lockdown status - and will likely remain that way for some time to come. Visitors are not allowed; Veterans cannot even visit with their families.
Veterans are Isolated
Thus for the indefinite future Veterans will continue to experience a very isolated existence. Among other things, they need Library services, especially audiobooks, now more than ever before. Jim Ramsey and other hospital library volunteers prepare audiobooks and other materials to send to the Veterans. Unfortunately, as has been the case since March, the volunteers cannot visit the Veterans on the wards, so materials are delivered to the Veterans through the mail or by staff. Without the volunteers to pick up used audiobook cartridges from the Veterans and re-circulate them, there is a persistent audiobook shortage.
In the spring, the Coronavirus played havoc with the lives of many hospitalized Veterans. Hundreds of inpatients tested positive for the virus and sadly, many died from complications of Covid-19. Entire floors of the hospital were converted to special Covid-19 treatment facilities, necessitating the relocation of the Veterans who resided there. And Veterans who contracted the virus were moved from their rooms to the Covid-19 treatment areas.
We applaud the heroic efforts of the VA staff who worked tirelessly to control the virus and protect the patients. Over much of the summer and fall there were no new positive Covid-19 cases, and things were slowly returning to normal.
But with the recent resurgence of the virus, a number of inpatients have tested positive, and the hospital has returned to lockdown status - and will likely remain that way for some time to come. Visitors are not allowed; Veterans cannot even visit with their families.
Veterans are Isolated
Thus for the indefinite future Veterans will continue to experience a very isolated existence. Among other things, they need Library services, especially audiobooks, now more than ever before. Jim Ramsey and other hospital library volunteers prepare audiobooks and other materials to send to the Veterans. Unfortunately, as has been the case since March, the volunteers cannot visit the Veterans on the wards, so materials are delivered to the Veterans through the mail or by staff. Without the volunteers to pick up used audiobook cartridges from the Veterans and re-circulate them, there is a persistent audiobook shortage.
|
Middle school students design homemade cards for Veterans at the Bedford VAMC.
|
Hand made “Thank You for your Service” cards.
|