Are you a veteran with questions about the PACT Act and VA health care?
 
The Hines VA Hospital Outreach Team is available to help you
 
The PACT Act is perhaps the largest health care and benefit expansion in VA history. The full name of the law is The Sergeant First Class (SFC) Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act.
The PACT Act will bring the following changes: Expands and extends eligibility for VA health care for Veterans with toxic exposures and Veterans of the Vietnam, Gulf War, and post-9/11 eras; Adds 20+ more presumptive conditions for burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic exposures; Adds more presumptive-exposure locations for Agent Orange and radiation; Requires VA to provide a toxic exposure screening to every Veteran enrolled in VA health care and Helps the VA improve research, staff education, and treatment related to toxic exposures.
The Hines Outreach Coordinator with the support of the Village of Channahon will be available to answer questions and provide information about these new benefits Wednesday December 14, 2022 from 10 AM to 2 PM at the Channahon Village Hall 24555 S Navajo Drive Channahon, IL.
This event is free and open to all veterans, no registration is required. 
Flu shots are also available for eligible veterans.
You may be eligible to enroll in VA health care if all of these statements are true: You served in the active military, naval, or air service (including being called up from the National Guard or Reserve by a federal order), and you didn’t receive a dishonorable discharge, and you meet at least one of the service requirements for enrollment.
You must meet at least one of these service requirements: You served at least 24 months in a row without a break (called continuous), or for National Guard and Reserve Members your full active-duty period, or You were discharged for a service-connected disability, or You were discharged for a hardship or “early out,” or You served before September 7, 1980. (Note: Time spent on active-duty status for training purposes only doesn’t count toward the service requirements.)
There are other criteria that may also make you eligible for VA health care. Please bring a copy of your DD214 and a Photo ID if you would like to enroll.
“There have been several significant changes to the benefits and services provided by the US Department of Veterans Affairs as a result of the PACT Act, the Hines VA Outreach Team is available to help answer questions and assist with applications for veteran’s health care benefits.” said Ken Buck, Superintendent of the VAC.
If you are not able to attend an outreach event the Grundy County VAC can be reached at vac@grundycountyil.gov or 815-941-3152 to schedule an office appointment to discuss these new benefits and all of the benefits and services available to veterans.
The VA Hines Healthcare System provides veterans with outstanding health care, trains America’s future health care providers, and conducts important medical research.
Care from the VA through the Hines network is available from 7 locations in northeastern Illinois. Facilities include our Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital in Hines and 6 community-based outpatient clinics in Aurora, Hoffman Estates, Joliet, Bourbonnais, Peru, and Oak Lawn. To learn more about the services each location offers, visit the VA Hines health care page at https://www.va.gov/hines-health-care/health-services/
The VA Hines Healthcare System is one of the leading health care systems serving Veterans in the VA Great Lakes Network. They are an innovative care center within the Veterans Integrated Service Network 12 (VISN 12). VISN 12 includes medical centers and clinics in Wisconsin, Illinois, northwestern Indiana, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.