Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center

Pictured: David Brown with staff from Freedom Square "They all go out of their way to give you excellent care here.” -David Brown about the staff of Freedom Square

Instead of a village, it takes a dedicated team to provide a level of personalized health care that disabled Navy Veteran David Brown characterizes as the best he has ever had.

The resident of Lovell Federal Health Care Center’s Freedom Square (Community Living Center) takes full advantage of the many services and activities available to him and praises the comprehensive health care he receives.

“The people here are super,” he said. “I love it here.”

Starting with all of the nurses in the CLC, Brown said, and extending to his doctors, dentists, clinic administrators, therapists, his nutritionist, many volunteers at Lovell and in the community, even the gentleman who regularly cleans his room, “whatever I ask them, they take care of it,” he said.

“All the nurses, I don’t want to single some out and leave someone out,” he said. “They all come to help and go out of their way to check on me.” “All I have to do is ask if I need something, and they remember and make sure I get it.”

Brown talked while he sat in his wheelchair in the airy, modern kitchen for residents on his floor of Freedom Square. To support his point, several staff members stopped by, each one greeting Brown and inquiring about his day.

Brown served as a boiler man in the Navy from 1961 to 1965, on a destroyer and other ships, in waters that included the Mediterranean. He distinctly remembers his duty during the Cuban Missile Crisis on the USS John Weeks, which participated in then-President John F. Kennedy’s quarantine of the island.

“We went aboard at midnight, and the next day they loaded fuel stores and ammo from the shore, and they never load ammo from the shore,” Brown said. “Then we went on the Cuban crisis. My Mom thought I was getting shot at … we didn’t know anything.”  

Today he is diabetic and classified as 100 percent disabled because of severe lung problems, which he attributes to being exposed to asbestos during his military service. He gave away his extensive model train collection and handed off his treasured 1986 Cadillac El Dorado to his mechanic when he moved from Chicago into Freedom Square in the spring of 2014. He said decisions had to be made about his increasingly complex medical care, and he doesn’t regret any of them.

Navy Veteran David Brown is shown here with one of his regular nurses, Wendy Superable. Brown is a resident patient at Lovell FHCC.

“I’m getting excellent care here,” he said.

His care team is extensive, including the dental clinic, pulmonary department, lab, radiology, podiatry, optometry, even prosthetics, where he started receiving oxygen therapy before he moved to the FHCC. “They got me a monitor, and compression socks. They are very good to me,” he said. “They are friendly and they take care of you, going way out of their way.”\

Brown enjoys getting around the facility independently, to sit outside in the CLC courtyard or go to the canteen for sandwiches.

So, in addition to his health care providers, Brown praises canteen workers, and the therapists and volunteers who make it possible for him to participate in CLC recreational activities, such as bus trips to Golden Corral and other places in the community.

Volunteers for one event, in particular, astounded him with their attention. He attended a VFW dinner and show last year. “A husband and wife offered to take care of me at the dinner. I said okay,” he said. “God, I’ve never been taken care of so well!”

For more information on Patient-Centered Health Care at Lovell FHCC go to http://www.lovell.fhcc.va.gov/patients/PatientCenteredCare.asp and view our vignettes on Patient-Centered Care on the right navigation.