UnityPoint Health — Trinity Regional Medical Center is temporarily unable to accept new patients from the Department of Veterans Affairs, the hospital confirmed on Thursday.

“A new program called the Community Care Network was established under the VA Mission Act that was enacted by Congress in 2018,” said Amy Heesch, a marketing communications specialist for UnityPoint Health — Fort Dodge. “The program allows VA medical staff to arrange for care for veterans from providers in the local community.

“Under the program, the network of participating providers is managed by regional Third Party Administrators (TPAs) who handle a variety of functions, including claims processing, referrals and authorizations.”

Heesch said UnityPoint Health is in the process of finalizing its contract to participate in the Community Care Network.

“While negotiations are underway, the regional TPA does not provide new patient referrals to the contracting facility,” Heesch said. “During this time, the regional TPA is not providing new VA patient referrals and we are not able to accept new VA patients without a referral. If we were to receive a referral, we would accept the VA patient.”

Heesch said the contract should be finalized sometime next week.

“We are working very closely with the TPA and are committed to resolving this matter as quickly as possible, so we can continue serving our VA patients,” Heesch said.