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VA To Construct New $5.4 Million Clinic
July 30, 2007
Nicholson: Better Access to World-Class Care
WASHINGTON -- To provide easier access for Guam’s veterans to the
world-class health care of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the
Department has announced plans to construct a new, $5.4 million clinic
on the periphery of the island’s naval hospital.
“Since World War II, the young men and women of Guam have served in
every conflict that has confronted his nation, including the Global War
on Terror,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson. “This new
facility is tangible proof of our determination to honor our commitment
to those veterans.”
The plan approved by Nicholson calls for a 6,000 square-foot outpatient
clinic next to the grounds of the naval hospital, with its own parking
area. Patients will not have to pass through Navy security to get to the
facility. The new clinic is scheduled to open in the summer of 2009.
The new outpatient clinic replaces the existing 2,700 square-foot VA
clinic at the naval hospital. VA will still partner with the naval
facility for emergency and after-hours health care, acute inpatient care
and some specialty services.
About 9,000 veterans live on the island. The existing clinic employs a
staff of 11, including an internal medicine physician, psychiatrist and
nurse practitioner. It provides primary care, mental health care,
limited specialty services and physical examinations for VA’s
compensation and pension benefits.
During the Vietnam War, Guam had more casualties per capita than any
state in the Union. Since 1989, VA has operated a clinic at the naval
hospital. Residents receive about $15 million annually in VA disability
compensation and pensions, plus home loan guarantees, educational
assistance, vocational assistance and other VA programs.
With 155 hospitals and more than 700 community-based outpatient clinics,
VA operates the largest integrated health care system in the country.
VA’s health care budget of more than $34 billion this year will provide
health care to about 5.5 million people during nearly 800,000
hospitalizations and 60 million outpatient visits.
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Larry Scott --
