The new VA clinic will be located at 15145 Lakeshore Drive in Clearlake, the former location of Lake County Mental Health.
Local veterans leaders greeted the news with enthusiasm.
“It's a perfect, central location,” said Dean Gotham, president of Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 951.
Added Frank Parker, president of the Lake County United Veterans Council, “I'm proud that they've done it.”
The Clearlake VA Clinic is scheduled to be operational by the fall of 2010, the VA reported.
The San Francisco VA Medical Center – which operates outpatient clinics in San Bruno, Santa Rosa, Eureka, Ukiah and downtown San Francisco – also will manage and staff the Clearlake facility.
“This is fantastic news for our vets and our county,” said Congressman Mike Thompson, himself a Vietnam veteran. “We must always remember that access to quality health care is something that veterans have earned through their service to our country. Our veterans deserve to be able to access care close to home, rather than being forced to travel to San Francisco or Ukiah to get health care. This is a great day for our vets and our entire community.”
Gotham said the clinic is an important resource for the county's many veterans – an estimated 8,000 of which make their home in Lake County, amounting to more than 10 percent of the county's population.
The VA estimated that about 3,000 local veterans are enrolled for the health services the agency offers. Many of them receive care at the Ukiah VA Outpatient Clinic. Gotham said he and others also access health care facilities in Santa Rosa and San Francisco.
“We've needed a clinic in this county for a long time,” Gotham said.
At its June 23 meeting, the Lake County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to terminate the county's lease on the building in an effort to consolidate the Mental Health Department's facilities and reduce expenses, as Lake County News has reported.
That opened the door for the VA, which was looking at three final sites when county Veteran Services Officer Jim Brown updated Lake County News on the site selection process last month.
The VA entered into a 10-year lease with the building's owner, John R. Coscarat Revocable Trust, represented by Capital Partners Development Corp.
The new clinic will be across the street from St. Helena Hospital Clearlake's Family Health Center and next door to the Best Western El Grande.
The building will undergo a completely new design and renovation process beginning in January 2010, the VA reported.
When completed, the facility will have approximately 8,600 square feet of clinic space. It will offer primary care and mental health services; telehealth technology will link the clinic with specialists at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and Santa Rosa VA Outpatient Clinic, making limited specialty care possible.
“It is VA’s priority to ensure the availability of high quality, easily accessible health care for Veterans. This new clinic is a perfect example of VA keeping that commitment," Lawrence H. Carroll, San Francisco VA Medical Center director, said in a written statement. “We are excited about the opportunity to take the next step in establishing outpatient services in Lake County to improve access to health care for our Veterans residing in northern California.”
This project is under the joint supervision of Capital Partners Development Co. LLC, Vila Construction Co. of Petaluma, Carpenter Robbins Commercial Real Estate and the San Francisco VA Medical Center’s Planning and Engineering departments, the VA reported.
Veterans who are interested in receiving care at the Clearlake Clinic may register at the San Francisco VA Medical Center or any of its outpatient clinics; online at www.va.gov or www.sanfrancisco.va.gov ; or contact the VAMC Eligibility Office at 828-299-2509.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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