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Veterans service holds annual health fair

FLU SHOT — Paul Swickard of Steubenville gets a flu shot on Saturday morning from Tina Griffel of the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System during the annual Veterans Health and Information Fair at the Towers. The health fair was sponsored by the Jefferson County Veterans Service Commission.

STEUBENVILLE –Paul Swickard of Steubenville rolled up his sleeve on Saturday morning and waited for the jab of the flu shot during the annual Veterans Health and Information Fair at the Towers.

The Jefferson County Veterans Service Commission held its 24th-annual health fair on Saturday for veterans from the Tri-State Area.

Swickard said he has been coming to the health fair for years.

“I think it is good for veterans, and they can get a free flu shot,” he said.

Swickard served in the Navy from January 1956 until November of 1959. He worked in aviation, putting bombs on planes.

Following his service, he worked for a couple contractors and then had a 30-year career at Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corp.

Schelley Brooks, veterans service commission executive director, said 165 veterans attended the health fair last year. The health fair this year was reduced to only three hours. Attendance was noticeably smaller this year, something Brooks and others on the veterans service commission say is attributable to a decrease in services offered by the Veterans Administration at health fairs.

Brooks said the health fair has become more of a resource fair, where veterans can learn about services offered by the VA in Pittsburgh and outpatient clinics.

Brooks said the VA cut back on checkups at the health fair because of liability issues.

But Brooks said the health fair also is about camaraderie.

“It is fun to see them talking with each other. You can see the smiles on their faces,” she said.

Bill Demjan, a veterans service commissioner for the past 14 years, said there were times more than 500 veterans came to the health fair when the VA had screenings and other checkups available.

“Attendance at the health fair has diminished over the years. The VA keeps cutting back. It used to be any veteran could get a flu shot. Now you have to be enrolled in the VA to get a flu shot,” Demjan said.

Ken Nice, a veterans commission service officer, said the VA used to provide oral screenings and a couple veterans discovered they had oral cancer.

Demjan said the veterans service commission was able to encourage veterans to go see their doctor if a problem was found during one of the screenings.

The VA did provide eye screenings for veterans on Saturday.

Thomas Deptula of state Route 213, Toronto, came to health fair with his wife, Patty.

“I come here every year for a flu shot. I’m disappointed in the services. They used to have a lot more. I still think it is good thing. Veterans should come here just to get a flu shot and they get a lot of good information,” he said.

Deptula, a Vietnam War veteran, said he goes to the VA clinic to get a checkup every six months.

He served in the Army for two years, spending a year in Vietnam where he ordered and received parts.

“It is nice to know someone cares,” his wife said.

(Law can be contacted at mlaw@heraldstaronline.com.)

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