The Manchester VA has partnered with Rochester's Frisbie Memorial Hospital to provide gastrointestinal procedures to veterans on New Hampshire's seacoast.
Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter made the announcement Thursday, calling it an important step toward making sure veterans can get the care they need locally.
Appointments will still be handled through the Manchester VA.
The partnership consists of two separate initiatives. In one, VA doctors will provide care at Frisbie Memorial Hospital. These appointments will be paid for through traditional community care funds. In the second initiative, FMH doctors will provide care through the Veterans Choice Program.
This would be the second such partnership formed by the Manchester VA this year. Following a catastrophic flood of its main building in July, the Manchester VA partnered with Catholic Medical Center, enabling VA doctors to treat veterans at CMC.
The decision comes as a special task force looks at the future of the Manchester VA, the state's only VA medical center.
Members of the task force are weighing whether public/private partnerships like this one should be a larger or smaller part of the way veterans get their health care in New Hampshire.
This story has been updated.
