I am a veteran and us the VA. What is the quickest way to get to P. Rico to the hospital?

I understand that there may be boats. But I'm not sure how much.

Quickest is seaplane. Cheapest I don't know because I'm ususally more concerned about getting there and back as quickly as possible.

Hello Leslie,

The bi-monthly ferry between St. Thomas and Puerto Rico is currently not operating. As of yesterday the folks that run it didn't have a forecast on when they might be offering the service again.

You'd need to fly with Cape Air, American Eagle or one of the other inter-island airlines; roughly $140-$200 roundtrip depending on specials, day of week etc.

--Islander

That sucks. I heard of the "emergency taxi in the relocation book. For 70$ he will take you to per dohm water taxi 60$ b4 midnight and 95$ after that. I didn't know if that covered p. rico or not

Leslie: That means that the person will take you to the dock where you would then get the Dohm Water Taxi (extra cost.) If Dohm's goes to PR (I don't think they do) it would be VERY expensive.

If you had an emergency, you would go to Schneider Regional and your physician would determine if you need to be air lifted to PR. Sometimes vets go by regular air, as mentioned above by Islander, for scheduled clinic visits in PR.

Ditto what East Ender wrote about Dohm's & PR; their website http://www.viwatertaxi.com/ doesn't show PR as an option - you might contact them about it to double check.

--Islander

Well, the clinic is just a doctor on STT. He doesn't specialize in any thing.

I have epilepsy from an injury over in the military and need it monitored by eeg's and mri thingys. The clinic doesn't have that, but P rico does. So for check ups It'll be expensive it looks like.

I know emergency's are covered by the va if it's service related or life/death and trasfered. But for just my check ups, I need to find a way over.

I didn't know it would be a problem...this is gonna be expensive.
🙁
Does anyone know if they cover transportation for doc. visits if it's service related. My DAV rep doesn't know his head from a hole in the wall, so i haven't had any help from him.

leslie: as inclined as I am to giving you a negative perspective on the health care you need here if you weren't covered by the VA system, have you checked with the stateside VA about what you would be covered for by moving to the U.S.Virgin Islands?

I don't know what a "DAV rep" is.

The US Virgin Islands is under the United States flag and despite the fact that Virgin Islands residents have no vote where the President of the United States is concerned, the US Government sure takes our National Guard reservists out of here on a regular basis for long and often repeated tours of duty in Afghanistan (and soon Iraq if the underground word is as correct as it usually is.}

No doubt Islander might see fit to remove my post since this is not a political forum!

Nonetheless, if your epileptic problem and its regular monitoring via MRIs and EEGs is directly related to your military service, I see no reason why the Federal Government would constrict your access to any jurisdiction under the United States flag which is unable in itself to offer same but which monitoring is available on an adjacent island (Puerto Rico) also under the US flag.

Check it out,good luck and let us know how it goes.

My husband is a Vet and his airfare to Puerto Rico was covered by the VA when he had to go to the hospital there for checkups. I believe they will only cover the airfare if they need to do something that can't be done on St. Thomas.

Thanks. i had thought they might. I just hope it's not a "pay you back when you get there" kinda thing and it's prpaid...that'd be nice....

Not to sound crass or anything but you could stay where you are. If it is a 'pay you back when you get there' thing, this is the place you have opted to be and unfortunately have to deal with it, sorry.

RL

not to sound rude, but I have to follow my husband on his transfer.

And The military is great about telling you to "pay for it and get a refund" and then telling you "sorry you paid 2x's what we feel you should have (ie price of gas)" and only paying you what they want.

As for being a disabled veteran who fought for your butt...I feel the last thing you should offer is to "stay where you are...and deal with it".

But that's okay, I understand.

Still looking foward to getting there!!!

No, I'm not sure you DO understand. We who live here try to be frank and honest about that experience. We try to let people know what to expect. There are many things here that are different than on the continent. To be forwarned is to be forarmed.

If something vital to you is not available or difficult to obtain, better to know it before you get here than to whine afterward about what's missing in the VI.

We always suggest a pre-move visit. If you can't make that visit, at least take to heart the comments and opinions of those who have already made the leap. We know what we're talking aobut.

Hope it works out for you.

I told you I wasn't trying to be crass. No need for your comment about putting your but on the line for me. You don't know who I am. You asked a question and I gave my opinion. If a service you need is not going to be readily availble, then maybe your husband ought to consider that in his answer for his transfer. If it's going to be a hardship, why do it?
Simple. Once again I say, sorry.

RL

BTW: My father died in that very same Vetreran's Hospital in Puerto Rico, as we had no services here to help him and were too late in getting him there to their overcrowded and understaffed facility.