WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senator Steve Daines today honored Rick Young of Forsyth, a U.S. Marine, for his dedicated efforts to expand quality health care for all Montana veterans.
Despite suffering from a serious illness himself, Rick was able to successfully advocate for area veterans to receive long-term care through the Rosebud Health Care Center (RHCC) in Forsyth. RHCC recently established a contract with the VA, which now allows for veterans to receive long-term care in Forsyth rather than having to travel a greater distance to the approved Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facility in Glendive.
Through his “Montanan of the Week” initiative, Daines each week will highlight a Montanan by submitting a statement of recognition in the official Congressional Record, the document that reflects the official proceedings of Congress.
Daines’ recognition in the Congressional Record is available here.
Daines welcomes anyone to nominate fellow Montanans for Daines’ “Montanan of the Week” program by calling Daines’ office at 202-224-2651 or by filling out the contact form on Daines’ website: http://www.daines.senate.gov/connect/email-steve
The following is the statement submitted to the Congressional Record:
MONTANAN OF THE WEEK
MR. DAINES. Mr. PRESIDENT, I want to recognize Rick Young, a proud veteran from Forsyth, Montana. Montana is blessed with a rich legacy of service and it is my honor to recognize not only Rick’s service to our country but his work to make quality health care accessible for all Montana veterans.
Rick proudly served our country as a Marine from January 1971 to January 1975. Unfortunately, his current illness requires constant care and attention. His wife Sharon long served as his primary round-the-clock caretaker and was confined to their home due to Rick’s condition, which required an external ventilator to breathe at all times. Eventually his needs surpassed his ability to stay home and he had to move into a long-term care facility.
While Rick was still at home, the Rosebud Health Care Center (RHCC) facility initiated a contract with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to be able to provide care and services to veterans in its long-term care unit. The previous aging and resource center for Rosebud County was in Glendive, MT, about one hour and forty minutes away from Rick’s home in Forsyth, MT. Thankfully, RHCC received approval from the VA to provide care services close to home for Rick on November 1, 2015.
Rick’s persistence and advocacy throughout his illness helped serve as the catalyst for RHCC establishing a contract with the VA that allows for veterans to receive long-term care in Forsyth. Our state has one of the largest populations of veterans per capita and Rick’s efforts have led the VA to create additional resources to help to provide health care services to Montana’s extensive veteran population.
I am so proud to have advocates like Rick and Sharon fighting for veterans in Montana. Through his inspiring work to increase veterans’ access to care, Rick Young has created an unmatchable legacy that will leave a lasting mark on our state. Keep fighting Rick, I’m rooting for you.
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