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El Paso VA interim director outlines access push, new sites and services timeline
Summary
Interim El Paso VA director Shane Soto described the ACE initiative to expand same‑day and extended‑hours care, a Las Cruces primary‑care/mental‑health site expected within 12 months, transportation options for rural veterans and plans for a new medical center with an anticipated first‑patient date of 08/15/2029.
Shane Soto, interim medical center director for the El Paso VA, told the Veterans Advisory Committee the agency is rolling out an "ACE" initiative — Access, Choice, Excellence — aimed at increasing same‑day and extended‑hours appointments for primary care and mental‑health services.
Soto said the program uses extended‑hour clinics and same‑day access, similar to urgent‑care clinics, so veterans will not always have to wait for scheduled appointments. He said the VA is assessing new sites of care and expects a Las Cruces primary‑care and mental‑health site to open within about 12 months, which will add bandwidth for primary care in the region.
The interim director noted a topping‑off ceremony for the new medical center and cited an anticipated first‑patient date of 08/15/2029. He said a permanent director has been selected but is pending onboarding and confirmation processes; Forre Garza, the prior director, has been confirmed to a post in Fresno, California.
Soto and staff outlined several access and support programs: drive‑through and walk‑in influenza and COVID vaccination clinics (Pfizer product available at the facility), the Community Provider Laboratory Orders program that lets veterans bring community lab orders back to the VA for processing, and an expanded Veteran Transportation Service (including volunteer vans and Uber Health Connect) to bring rural patients to appointments. He named Melvin Melton as the local point of contact for beneficiary travel coordination.
On whole‑health services, Soto said priority groups 6–8 will see new co‑pays for some complementary therapies and that impacted veterans have been notified. He described a voucher‑style childcare initiative being piloted for some sites and said women's health is a VISN‑level priority: the VA is working to ease self‑referral to gynecology and is planning a women's clinic pathway with an attestation target around Dec. 15, though build‑out, staffing and budget allocations remain to be completed.
Committee members asked about service limitations and whether benefits processing had been disrupted; Soto said some front‑facing restrictions had been lifted, staff have returned on‑site, and claims processing (including National Cemetery stone placement) is ongoing.
The presentation concluded with contact points and program reminders for veterans: transportation options (beneficiary travel office), laboratory order processing through the VA, food‑distribution referrals and volunteer transportation vans in the El Paso/Las Cruces area.
