The Fisher House program is a unique private-public partnership that supports America's military in their time of need.

What is a Fisher House?

What are the eligibility requirements to stay at the Fisher House?

Why build a Fisher House at the VA Palo Alto Hospital?
 

What is a Fisher House?

The program recognizes the special sacrifices of our men and women in uniform and the hardships of military service by meeting a humanitarian need beyond that normally provided by the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs.

Because members of the military and their families are stationed worldwide and must often travel great distances for specialized medical care, Fisher House Foundation donates  "comfort homes"; built on the grounds of major military and VA medical centers. These homes enable family members to be close to a loved one at the most stressful times - during the hospitalization for an unexpected illness, disease, or injury.

There is at least one Fisher House at every major military medical center to assist families in need and to ensure that they are provided with the comforts of home in a supportive environment. Annually, the Fisher House program serves more than 7,000 families, and have made available more than 1,500,000 days of lodging to family members since the program originated in 1990. Based on a comparison of fees at a Fisher House (the average charge is less than $10 per family per day, with many locations offering rooms at no cost) with commercial lodging facilities in the same area, it is estimated that families have saved nearly $60 million by staying at a Fisher House since the program began.

In addition to constructing new houses, Fisher House Foundation continues to support existing Fisher Houses and help individual military families in need. Families and friends of patients at any of the military's hospitals can now receive up-to-the-minute reports on a loved one by going to the patient's own customized web page, thanks to new services provided through CaringBridge.

Fore more information about the program, visit the Fisher House website.

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What are the eligibility requirements to stay at the Fisher House?

The goal of the Palo Alto Fisher House is to provide high quality, temporary lodging to families of Active Duty Military Personnel and families of Veterans who are undergoing treatment through the Palo Alto VA Health Care System. Veterans or Active Duty Military Personnel may stay at the Fisher House if accompanied by a family member or caregiver while they receive their outpatient treatment. The following are eligibility requirements for lodging at the Palo Alto Fisher House:  

• Guests must be medically stable and able to care for themselves and/or family members independently.
• Guests must live 50 miles or more from the Fisher House.
• Guests must require lodging for three or more days not to exceed a total of 90 consecutive days. 
• Minor children may be accommodated if they are supervised by their families at all times.
• There will be only one room assigned to each family.  Occupancy can not exceed OSHA regulations per room.

For further information on lodging at the Palo Alto Fisher House please contact Tram Le-Nguyen, Fisher House Manager, at 650-493-5000, x60384 or send e-mail to Tram.Le-Nguyen@va.gov.

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Why build a Fisher House at the VA Palo Alto Hospital?

• The VA Palo Alto Hospital is a regional referral center, which means they get injured service members and veterans from the entire West Coast and as far away as Texas.
• A Fisher House will not only serve families of injured Iraqi service members, but will be there for all veterans’ families who have someone they love going through long-term rehabilitation programs, including traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury and blind rehab.
• It’s important to remember that having someone you love seriously injured is traumatic for the families and the last thing they need to be worried about is how to pay for a hotel bill or get from the airport to the hospital.
• A Fisher House would serve all veterans' families.  They are not just reaching out for returning veterans. The VA is eager to find a solution for families of veterans who bravely served in Gulf War I, Vietnam, Korea and World War II.  They deserve the best, just as our Iraqi veterans do.
• This is not about the care that these soldiers and Marines got at Bethesda or are receiving at VA.  Indications are that the care is excellent.  This is about support for the families, who are key to the healthy and happy recovery of these men and women.
• VA has traditionally always focused on the veteran, and that’s as it should be.  Unfortunately, they are not set up to help the families and cannot use appropriated funds for that purpose.  So it is imperative that the community step up to help, until a more permanent solution is found like a Fisher House.
• For further information at Palo Alto Hospital you can contact Tram Le-Nguyen, Fisher House Manager, at 650-493-5000, x60384 or send e-mail to Tram.Le-Nguyen@va.gov.

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