One Veteran’s unbreakable bond

After waking up in a Las Vegas community hospital with both legs amputated, Army Veteran Michael Hobbs had only the haziest memories. But to this day, he is clear about his relationship with his doctor there, Dr. Cole Kretchmar. They have an unbreakable bond.

“He would just show up and sit on my bed and we would just talk. We talked about my military service for a little bit,” Hobbs said. “We would just talk, and I thought that was the neatest thing. I looked forward to it every day.”

Changing a life with one question

Kretchmar, a resident physician, was Hobbs’s doctor at Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas, which has an academic affiliation with VA. Having done his training with VA, Kretchmar knew to ask Hobbs a simple question that changed his life.

“One day he was wearing a military-type shirt, and I figured I would ask him if he’s a Veteran because I knew we had a really good amputee clinic here at the North Las Vegas VA,” said Kretchmar. 

“He’s the one that suggested to put in a VA claim,” said Hobbs. “I hadn’t even considered it.”

As soon as Hobbs returned home from the hospital, he connected with VA and his life radically improved. “These guys just picked up the ball and started running,” said Hobbs. “I cannot speak highly enough about all the departments in this facility. It’s been amazing—I never needed for anything.”

Today, Hobbs receives service-connected disability compensation, which has also made him eligible for a VA Auto Adaptive Grant, a Special Adapted Housing Grant and long-term care in the Nevada State Veterans home.  

“I can get everything I need here at VA,” said Hobbs. “I mean primary care, optometry, cardiology, prosthetics, pharmacy, lab work. You name it.”

Getting the benefits he earned

Kretchmar feels good knowing Hobbs is getting the services and benefits he earned. “It’s great to see that continuity of care and see him get the benefits that he’s worked for,” he said. “It seems like a small thing to ask, but you know, even little things can change people’s lives.”

The VA training that prepared Kretchmar to ask Hobbs about his Veteran status was the result of a survey led by Veteran and former VA physician Dr. Carlos Rodriguez, Jr. Results showed that roughly one-quarter of patients receiving care in local hospitals where the survey was conducted were Veterans—and roughly half of those patients were not connected with VA.

In response, clinical educators at North Las Vegas VA started training their residents to ask all their patients if they were Veterans when doing rotations in the local community hospitals.

Hobbs is benefitting every day from that one simple question. “This whole experience was not something I expected,” said Hobbs. “I will tell everybody I know about VA. For guys that don’t know, I’ll tell them. This is the place to be.”

Hobbs said he owes everything to Kretchmar and will always feel a bond. “Without him, I wouldn’t be here. Period.” Hobbs said.

Kretchmar, along with 122,000 other health professions trainees across the nation, are in VA’s health professions education program, the largest training program of its kind in the United States.