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Published on 11/10/1999 All articles from this issue

Los Altos volunteers cheer vets at the VA Health Care campus

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By Leslie K. Martin / Town Crier Staff Writer

Los Altos resident Jim Jenson, 79, is a retired administrative law judge for a national labor relations board. Jenson is also in his third year as a volunteer at the Palo Alto campus (formerly known as the VA Hospital) of the VA Palo Alto Health Care System.

After retiring, Jenson said, "I puttered around for seven months, got up one morning and said, 'What the hell am I going to do now?'" He found himself at the VA center. "I'm a W.W. II vet, and I'm sympathetic to vets."

According to its Web site, the VA Palo Alto Health Care System is one of the largest VA facilities in the nation, providing health care and services for more than 540,000 vets, with an annual budget in excess of $280 million.

Bill Ball, chief of volunteer service, said that more than 1,800 volunteers like Jenson have contributed more than 300,000 hours per year on the VA campuses in Palo Alto, Menlo Park and Livermore.

Jenson, who works at the Spinal Cord Injury information desk and administers patient surveys in outpatient clinics enjoys the work. "I fight W.W. II with some of these guys, and the war gets better all the time. We swap experiences that are unusual." Jenson enlisted in the Navy in 1941, was an officer on the battleship Nevada, and lived through invasions in Atu, Normandy and southern France. Jenson said, "I see a lot of people who are a lot worse off than I am. You always help them out."

Jenson believes the Palo Alto hospital facility is excellent. Newly built since the Loma Prieta earthquake, Jenson said, "It's a beautiful place, actually. Ninety percent of people would rather come here than any other hospital."

The VA Health Care System includes Comprehensive Rehabilitation, Traumatic Brain Injury, Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical regional treatment centers.

Another volunteer and Los Altos resident is 64-year-old Leslie Beaupre. Beaupre, who is legally blind, first entered the VA Palo Alto Health Care System as a patient of the Western Blind Rehabilitation Center (WBRC). The WBRC is a 32-bed residential facility located on the Palo Alto campus.

Beaupre said the WBRC program included an evaluation by a psychologist, two weeks of classes, and a comprehensive retraining program. Legally blind patients like Beaupre are retaught basic skills like mobility, cooking, typing, and keeping a home environment organized and clean. They can take classes in Braille, walking with a cane, and woodworking, as well as leather and metal classes.

Since being enrolled in the WBRC program, Beaupre has worked as a volunteer escort for over five years. He puts in eight hours a day, five days a week. "I'm doing this on my own," Beaupre said. "It's the best physical therapy for me. I can relate to the veteran. (Physical infirmity) is intimidating to people who let it intimidate them. But I'm going to serve my country, whether I'm sighted or not. I'm a role model, I just help them."

Ball said, "I think in a number of cases, youth volunteers' experience of what a vet is, is 'Saving Private Ryan.' Volunteering provides an experience and exposure to what serving your country is."

To find out more about the VA Palo Alto Health Care System, or to volunteer, call 493-5000 or see: www.palo-alto.med.va.gov/.