Veterans in Butler County — and across the nation — have a new tool to help connect them with health care services.

VEText, a new text messaging system developed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, will remind veterans of upcoming appointments via text.

“Our goal is to offer a quick and easy way to confirm and/or cancel VA appointments and then make every attempt to schedule another veteran into that time slot,” said Alan Petrazzi, VA Butler Healthcare's interim director.

Veterans who need to cancel an appointment simply respond to the system's text alert with “cancel” and the slot immediately becomes available for another veteran.