Veterans on St. Croix will no longer have to pay out of pocket when traveling to Puerto Rico for medical care.

Government House spokesperson Richard Motta Jr. announced during a weekly press briefing Monday that the V.I. Veterans Affairs Office and airline Fly the Whale entered into a partnership to cover costs for veterans who have set up appointments through the U.S. Veterans Affairs clinic on St. Croix. Once that appointment is presented to the V.I. Veterans Affairs Office in writing, Motta said, the office will make arrangements for the veteran and travel companion, if necessary.

Veterans Affairs Director Patrick Farrell said in a statement Monday that securing better access to medical care for the territory’s veterans has always been one of the office’s top priorities.

“This is a significant step in that direction,” he said. “We hope to be able to do the same for our Veterans residing on the island of St. Thomas in the near future.”

During Monday’s briefing, Motta also announced a pair of industry days for contractors and suppliers seeking work related to the territory’s $25 billion recovery from hurricanes Irma and Maria through the government’s Rebuild USVI initiative. The first will be held on Oct. 27 at the Westin Beach Resort on St. Thomas, and the second will be held on Oct. 29 at the University of the Virgin Islands on St. Croix.

“This is where our local contractors and suppliers meet the prime contractors who are rebuilding schools, hospitals, clinics, roads and utilities here in the territory,” Motta said. “You’ll hear scopes, schedules and exactly how to qualify as a subcontractor or a vendor in the recovery process.”

Motta asked interested companies to register by Wednesday and said local small businesses will be given priority.

“If you pour concrete, pull up wire, run pipe, move dirt or furnish classrooms and clinics, get in the room so our recovery dollars stay here at home,” he said.

Later, Motta said the ongoing federal shutdown has caused some delays in the territory’s recovery efforts but that the flow of federal disaster recovery funds haven’t been affected yet.

“What we’re seeing right now are some disruptions to … permitting processes, because of the government shutdown,” he said. “There are a lot of people and a lot of offices that have furloughed workers or have closed their offices all together during the shutdown period. It has delayed some of those things, like permitting, but in terms of the actual funding for the disaster recovery … as of this moment, we don’t see any significant impacts to that — and we would certainly hope that there will be a resolution to end the government shutdown before we can even get to something like that occurring.”

The shutdown has affected some federal assistance programs.

Last week, the V.I. Human Services Department advised all Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients that their November benefits could be delayed because of the lapse in federal funding through the U.S. Agriculture Department.

“This means that EBT cards will not receive November benefits until federal funding is restored,” according to a statement from Human Services, which urged households to “plan ahead, budget carefully, and conserve current benefits during this uncertain period.”

Senate President Milton Potter subsequently introduced draft legislation to provide emergency relief for Virgin Islands SNAP recipients, and Gov. Albert Bryan Jr.’s financial team is set to update the Legislature as to the full financial impact of the shutdown during a Committee of the Whole meeting next week.