Speaker tells veterans about available home-care options
MARS — Webb Hawthorne medically retired from the Navy in 1981 at the age of 31. He now is looking at a senior care living facility and starting the process of utilizing the veterans benefits that he earned.
Hawthorne wishes he would have looked into benefits much sooner.
“When I was working for Westinghouse, I had heart problems, and I had to have surgery,” Hawthorne said. “Westinghouse insurance paid for everything but $3,000. I probably could have got that $3,000 paid for by (military insurance), but I didn’t know it was available.”
On Thursday, May 25, St. John Specialty Care Center hosted an open house with John Mozdzien, co-founder of Veterans First, to let veterans and their spouses know the options that could be available to them and their families as they navigate home care options.
“They have served our country and have done such a service to our people,” said Janet Casciato, corporate director of sales, marketing and residential operations at the center. “We are very privileged to be able to care for them and hear their stories. They’re special people.”
Veterans First is a Western Pennsylvania-based organization that helps veterans and their surviving spouses obtain in-home care that is fully funded by the aid and attendance pension benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs.