FORT SMITH — On a motorcycle ride Saturday, Army veteran Mike Cowen and his buddies stopped at the Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Fort Smith and found five nurses giving free flu vaccines to veterans.
The clinic was one of several being held over the next few months by the Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks, which is part of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
“I didn’t know the clinic did that - it’s pretty good,” said Cowen, a Vietnam War veteran from Garfield. “It means that the VA is reaching out to the veterans in the community and not just sitting there waiting. They are coming to the veterans.”
Johnny Gothard Sr., senior vice commander for the Fort Smith VFW Post8845, said the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is providing more health-care outreach to veterans than in the past.
The nurses who gave the free flu shots Saturday said the outreach clinic is one way to better reach veterans.
Susan Hansen, spokesman for the Fayettevillebased Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks, said the Fort Smith clinic is one of eight being held this year. Last year the system held five such clinics, Hansen said. The Ozarks health system gives out approximately 15,000 flu vaccines annually to veterans, she said.
The Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks serves 11 Northwest Arkansas counties, 10 counties in Missouri and two in Oklahoma, Hansen said. In addition to otheroutreach efforts, services are provided at the medical center in Fayetteville and at six community-based outpatient clinics, Hansen said.
Ed Barham, spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Health, said veterans are at risk for getting the flu and developing complications because most are age 50 or older and because many already have chronic conditions, such as diabetes.
Hansen said about 74 percent of the 53,000 veterans that the Ozarks health system treats every year are age 55 or older.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta said a flu vaccination can prevent death from the flu, according to its website. In studies of elderly people in nursing homes, a flu vaccination is 80 percent effective in preventing death from the flu, the website says.
Barham said approximately 36,000 people in the United States die each year from the flu. In Arkansas, 11 people died last year, and 53 died in 2009 - mostly because of the virulent H1N1 flu, he said. This year’s vaccine protects against the H1N1 flu and two other strains, Barham said.
The flu season usually starts between early December and early March, but in 2009 the season started in October, Barham said.
At the Fort Smith clinic Saturday, the words, “FreeFlu Shots for Veterans” were displayed on a dry-erase board. Another message said: “AJ - cancer spread to his lungs.”
Hansen said veterans are at risk for other health complications if they have longterm problems with their hearts, lungs or kidneys.
She said about 70 percent of the veterans treated by the Ozarks health system received a flu vaccine last year, but the clinic hopes to exceed that percentage this year.
“It’s really important for this population to get an annual flu shot to protect themselves and their families,” Hansen said.
About 8:15 a.m. Saturday, five nurses started dispensing free flu shots to the veterans at the Fort Smith post’s meeting hall.
An hour and a half later, 11 veterans had stopped by for shots, nurse Carrol Marvin said. That’s a slight increase from previous years when the number of vaccines averaged about eight, she said.
“A lot of these guys and girls don’t belong to a VA clinic, and we just go where they are,” Marvin said.
The Fort Smith flu clinic is the third held so far this year, Hansen said. Others are planned at VFW and American Legion posts in Bella Vista, Huntsville, Pea Ridge and Springdale later this month and in early November.
Veterans can get free flu shots at any of Ozarks health system’s six communitybased outpatient clinics. Only one, in Harrison, requires veterans to call ahead, Hansen said.
Gothard said Saturday that some veterans can’t make it to a clinic or they won’t go.
“A lot of these guys won’t step foot in a VA clinic unless they are dragged in there,” Gothard said. “It’s nice to get it done here instead of going to the clinic.”
FREE FLU CLINICS FOR VETERANS Monday - 2 p.m., Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8109, Mount Vernon Presbyterian Church, 1300 N. Davis St., Pea Ridge Tuesday - 6:30 p.m.,
Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2952, 1006 N. Thompson St., Springdale Thursday - 6:30 p.m.,
American Legion Post 137, 165 Madison County Road 6054, Huntsville Oct. 20 - 5 p.m., Veterans of Foreign Wars
Post 9063, 103 Veterans Way, Bella Vista
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 17 on 10/09/2011