Program at Bay Pines VA Hospital provides veterans with legal help

BAY PINES, Fla. — The Medical-Legal Partnership at Bay Pines VA Hospital provides veterans with civil legal assistance and, in some cases, legal representation for themselves or their family.

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, the program operates at 31 VA hospitals across the country and helps with many different types of legal services.

Navy veteran Carl Leegrand said he first sought help in 2021, after having issues with his apartment complex.

“I was being charged some things that actually shouldn’t have been charged, because they said I had broke the lease,” he said.

He was unsure what to do until he learned about the resource while attending a mental health class.

He has since used this resource two additional times for issues with his HOA and installing a safety door at his home.

“You could go to an outside lawyer or whatever, but it’s not a guarantee that you got to come up with the money and all this other stuff,” he said. “So the problem to me, and the help they gave me, I’m very appreciative of that and the way they responded to me.”

Pye Young, the managing attorney at Bay Pines Legal Services’ St. Pete office, helped Leegrand with his first case.

She said they offer help in many kinds of legal matters — including family law assistance, credit card issues, veterans benefits, and more.

“The purpose of this partnership is to work together to provide this service that has been identified as a greatest need of veterans, and to also meet them where they are on site here at the VA,” she said.

The Medical-Legal Partnership was established at Bay Pines in 2017 to better meet the needs of veterans.

The consultation is free, and thanks to grants, the service is free for income-eligible veterans.

The office is open every Monday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Bay Pines VA Hospital. The program also operates at Bay Pines VA Lakeside Clinic, Bradenton VA Clinic, Sarasota VA Clinic, and Daystar Life Services in St. Petersburg. Days and hours of operation vary by location.

For more information on the Medical-Legal Partnership, visit the program’s website.