Published: August 19, 2008 11:46 pm         

VA clinic will serve more than 2,260 vets

A Department of Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic plan-ned for Enid will serve a patient load of more than 2,260 veterans and have 13,000 patient visits its first year.

Enid city commissioners heard an update on the clinic Tuesday from retired Navy Capt. Craig Vance, a member of National Association of Uniformed Services and Gar-field County Veterans Coun-cil.

The clinic was announced June 26 by James B. Peake, secretary of Veterans Affairs. It will be one of 44 new community-based clinics opened across the country. Four will be in Oklahoma, with the others in Altus, Craig County and Jay.

It is projected to be open before Oct. 1, 2009, Vance said.

The clinic will serve about 12,000 veterans north of Interstate 40 and west of Interstate 35 in 11 northwest Oklahoma counties. Vance said the economic impact of those 12,000 veterans is about $32 million a year from direct disability compensation, pension, vocational rehabilitation payments and VA medical expenditures. When the clinic is open, some of those expenditures will go to Enid instead of Oklahoma City, where many veterans now go for care.

The Enid clinic will be the only VA medical facility in northwest Oklahoma.

It will serve some 1,200 veterans in Garfield, Grant, Kingfisher and Major counties, Vance said. Within days of the June announcement, he said, calls came in from veterans as far west as Elk City and Woodward asking to transfer their care to Enid. VA also expects new enrollees who have not sought treatment previously because of the driving distance to Oklahoma City.

Vance said he and retired Army Maj. Gen. Clyde Spence have worked on the project along with members of the Oklahoma congressional delegation and other community members.

The clinic will provide services for non-acute, non-emergency conditions. Primary services will include intake, initial assessment, disease prevention and treatment, overall care management, health promotion and patient/caregiver education for veterans, Vance said. Pre-ventive services may include screening, counseling, immunizations and educational interventions.

It also will provide basic mental health services, such as screening and evaluation of mental health disorders, including substance abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder and sexual trauma counseling.

Medication needed immediately and for the first 10 days will be provided by contract, probably through a local pharmacy, he said. Beyond the 10-day period, medication will be available through the VA outpatient mail pharmacy.

Routine laboratory testing and basic imaging will be provided through a local contract.

Vance said the clinic is expected to be staffed by two doctors, two registered nurses, three licensed practical nurses and a part-time mental health provider. Some may be recruited locally, he said.

City Manager Eric Benson said he once worked for VA and was told there never would be a clinic in Enid.

“That just shows what persistence will do,” he said.