SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs said last week that it plans to open new clinics in Springfield and Marshfield. Those clinics are among 13 new community-based outpatient clinics nine states.
The VA says the clinic in Marshfield will open in 2013 and the one in Springfield will open in 2015. Many veterans in the area now receive treatment at VA clinics in Mount Vernon, Branson and Harrison, Ark., which are all part of the Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks, which is based at the VA hospital in Fayetteville, Ark.
The VA also has hospitals in Kansas City, Columbia and Poplar Bluff, whose separate networks include clinics in West Plains, Fort Leonard Wood, Lake of the Ozarks, St. James and Nevada. The VA’s news release doesn’t say which hospital’s network would oversee the clinics in Springfield and Marshfield.
“Community-based clinics are key to providing veterans better access to high-quality care closer to home,” Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki said in a news release. “By reducing the distance veterans have to travel, we hope more veterans will benefit from the health care services they have earned through their service to our nation.”
With 152 medical centers and more than 812 community-based outpatient clinics, the VA says it operates the largest integrated health care system in the country. VA will provide health care to about 6.1 million patients in fiscal year 2012 and 80 million outpatient visits.
