TRI-CITIES, Wash. – According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ website, the VA serves roughly 9 million veterans at 1,255 different health care facilities around the country every year.
The MISSION Act which was launched back in 2019, aims to strengthen the nationwide VA healthcare system by empowering veterans with more healthcare options.
According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ website, under the new Veterans Community Care Program veterans can work with their VA health care provider or other VA staff to see if they are eligible to receive community care based on new criteria.
While the VA clinic in Richland does help local veterans, it has limited services that it is able to provide. That’s why it is announcing the recent funding it has received from the MISSION Act to get the ball rolling on a new medical facility in Tri-Cities.
“This will be a $20,000,000 project that was funded through the mission act. There was money set aside for I believe 30 projects across the country and we were lucky enough to obtain the funding that way” said Scott Kelter, Walla Walla VA Medical Center.
Right now the project is in an initial design phase which means staff are currently looking for spaces that would be able to meet their needs, determining what services they would be able to provide and where in the clinic those services should be placed.
Some of those services include: dental, audiology and optometry.
Some potentially rotating services include: urology and basic outpatient surgeries. Kelter tells NonStop Local that this new clinic will be specifically designed for mostly outpatient care.
“I think to get to my local clinic in Spokane it’s roughly around 140 miles away and I have to travel all the way over there” Jose Cantu, Local Veteran.
Kelter tells NonStop Local that while the VA is building the new facility it will be expanding it’s existing space in Richland in the next year. The expansion will include services like physical therapy and mental health support services.
