Showcasing Excellence
Mobile Prosthetic and Orthotic Care (MoPOC) Drives Specialty Care Access for Rural Veterans
Understanding rural health means understanding the barriers Veterans face — including geography, distance, and the burden of travel to reach specialty care. ORH Executive Director Peter Kaboli, MD, rode along with a MoPOC orthotist to experience those realities firsthand. Then, ORH Deputy Director James Watts, PhD — a rural Veteran himself — shares what MoPOC means when there are many miles between you and the care you need.
The VHA Office of Rural Health (ORH) funds the Mobile Prosthetic and Orthotic Care (MoPOC) Enterprise-Wide Initiative (EWI) to bring Orthotic & Prosthetic (O&P) specialty care directly to rural Veterans. Through MoPOC, O&P providers travel regularly to rural VA clinics in a mobile O&P lab — a van outfitted with specialized tools and equipment — to deliver care wherever it is needed. MoPOC improves access to care for rural Veterans, removes the need for a brick-and-mortar lab, and costs less than community-based O&P care.
ORH Executive Director Rides Along to See MoPOC in Action
Inside the MoPOC van, outfitted with specialized O&P tools and equipment.
To see MoPOC in action, ORH Executive Director Peter Kaboli, MD, joined Orthotist Braden Teller for a ride-along from the Iowa City VA Medical Center to the VA Community-Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) in Dubuque, Iowa — about a 90-minute drive through rural Iowa. Along the way, Dr. Kaboli talked with Braden about his work as an orthotist, what it takes to deliver specialty care on the road, and how the MoPOC van brings services that rural Veterans might otherwise have to travel hours to reach.
For Dr. Kaboli, the ride-along was part of a broader effort to understand rural health challenges not just on paper, but on the ground — where geography, distance, and travel time shape whether a Veteran gets the care they need. “We need to fully understand the role of mobile medical units and the challenges of using them for care in rural areas,” said Kaboli. “They are another tool we can use to improve rural Veterans’ access, but they’re a challenging tool and you have to know how to use them.”
MoPOC Brings Care Closer to Home for One of Our Own
Austin Goff, MSOP, Certified Prosthetist Orthotist, works with Veteran James Watts during his MoPOC appointment at the Morehead CBOC — just three miles from home, instead of 130.
James Watts, PhD — also known to his colleagues as Dr. Watts — has deep roots in rural Kentucky. A Marine Corps Veteran, he has received his VA care from the Lexington VA Health Care System since leaving the service in 1990. He went on to earn his PhD in Social Work from the University of Kentucky, driven by a commitment to serve fellow Veterans. That commitment led him to a career in VHA, where he served as Social Work Service Chief and then Associate Director of the Lexington VA Medical Center and its Community-Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs). In those roles, James saw firsthand the barriers rural Veterans face getting to care — and the challenges VA faces in delivering it.
In 2025, James joined ORH as Deputy Director. It was there he learned about a program working to solve the very access problems he had spent his career trying to address — and one that would soon help him personally. The ORH MoPOC Enterprise-Wide Initiative sends O&P providers to rural VA clinics on a regular schedule, equipped with everything they need in a mobile O&P lab. Because MoPOC comes to the Veteran — not the other way around — it eliminates the need for a brick-and-mortar lab and reduces the long drives that keep many rural Veterans from getting the specialty care they need.
During a recent appointment at the Morehead CBOC, James was seen by Austin Goff, MSOP. Austin earned a Masters in Science of Orthotics and Prosthetics (MSOP) and sat for board exams to become a Certified Prosthetist Orthotist. He is very knowledgeable and highly trained to care for rural Veterans' O&P needs.
By getting specialized care from Austin, at the clinic close to his home, James’s cut his travel time by two and a half hours.
“My MoPOC appointment deserves five stars. Austin was wonderful and helped me get what I needed, when I needed it, and in a place that was convenient for me. Instead of driving 130 miles to Lexington, I only had to drive three miles to the clinic in Morehead. As the ORH Deputy Director, experiencing MoPOC firsthand was invaluable. I know this program makes a difference for rural Veterans — it made a difference in my life, and I would highly recommend it to all my fellow Veterans.” ~ James Watts, PhD, ORH Deputy Director
The MoPOC program has been running in Lexington since 2024. Austin and the MoPOC van make regular trips to the Berea, Somerset, and Morehead CBOCs. Since launching at 2 VA medical centers in fiscal year (FY) 2021, MoPOC has grown to serve Veterans at 20 VA medical centers across the country, with 16 sites continuing and expanding their programs in FY 2027.
Rural Health - Navigation
- Office of Rural Health Home page:
https://www.ruralhealth.va.gov/index.asp - Enterprise-Wide Initiatives (EWI) page:
https://www.ruralhealth.va.gov/Enterprise-Wide-Initiatives-EWI.asp - Veterans Rural Health Resource Centers (VRHRC) page:
https://www.ruralhealth.va.gov/Veterans-Rural-Health-Resource-Centers-VRHRC.asp
