Plans for Wytheville Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic receive support

A proposed Veterans Affairs outpatient health care clinic for Wytheville has drawn good response from local property owners. Negotiations with those offering sites – some with an existing structure and others suitable for building – will begin soon.

While she declined to reveal how many sites are available, Lori McClure, Veterans Affairs network planner, called the number “decent.” She said a review team had inspected the properties and rated them according to needs.

“The negotiations don’t usually take that long,” noted McClure from her office in Hampton. “We are considering sites with existing buildings and those where a clinic could be built.”

The primary care and mental health care clinic is targeted for a Sept. 30 opening. It will operate with a staff of approximately 25 people.

According to McClure, the VA community-based outpatient clinic will have its own doctors. These doctors, she said, will work for the Veterans Affairs and could be recruited locally.

The local clinic will provide routine laboratory and X-rays as requested. It also will prescribe medications as needed.

In announcing the local clinic last summer, Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) said, “This will help address the growing health care needs of veterans living in Southwest Virginia, who often lack access to VA hospitals and treatment facilities located in larger metropolis.”

A member of the Veterans Affairs Committee, Webb said Wytheville was selected based on a variety of criteria including veteran population, distance to other veterans’ services, accessibility, budgetary considerations and care provider partnership.

The VA Administration bought local newspaper ads soliciting properties last summer. It set a deadline of Aug. 28, 2008, for proposals.

Wayne Quesenberry can be reached at 228-6611 or .