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Texas veterans clinic aims to ease crowding
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From left are Jim Bremner, president of BremnerDuke Health Care Real Estate; a BremnerDuke representative; U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas; Fort Worth Mayor Pro Tem Kathleen Hicks; U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Texas; U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco; and Joseph Dalpiaz, director of the North Texas VA Health Care System. Courtesy photo
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FORT WORTH — For years many veterans have had to wait months for an appointment, sit for hours in a crowded waiting room or even go to Dallas or elsewhere because of the busy Fort Worth outpatient clinic.
But a new 240,000-square-foot clinic built by 2010 will be the nation’s largest leased Veterans Affairs clinic, a project made possible in part by the largest funding increase in the VA’s 77-year history.
“Tomorrow, on Veterans Day, we will honor veterans with our words. Today, here, we honor them with our deeds,” U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, said Monday at a groundbreaking ceremony for the new clinic, to be four times larger than the Fort Worth facility that serves 16 counties.
The clinic is among many nationwide initiatives — including hiring thousands of new doctors, nurses and disability claims processors — that are possible through Congress’ $16.3 billion increase in veterans health care and benefits in the last two years.
The effort was led by the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Committee, which Edwards chairs. Of the $118.7 billion for 2009, the $47.7 billion for the Department of Veterans Affairs includes construction money for six more major projects and 145 minor projects that can be finished at VA facilities next year.
Officials said the larger Fort Worth clinic will also ease strain on the medical staff.
“As a doctor, that wears on you,” said U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Flower Mound, who also is a doctor. “It hurts your ability to provide good care.”
The Fort Worth clinic opened in 1992 and provides primary care, physical therapy, mental health, non-sedative surgery, dental and eye services, audiology, podiatry, orthopedics, urology, lab work, radiology and a pharmacy.
The new clinic will add specialty services, including cardiology, endoscopy, dermatology and prosthetics.
Billy F. Hunt, 80, a World War II Army veteran, said he is looking forward to the new clinic because he has relied on a Disabled American Veterans volunteer to drive him to the Dallas clinic for treatment that he hopes will be available at the new facility.
“It seems like a great thing for veterans to get more services,” Hunt said.
More than 5.8 million patients will be treated at VA facilities in 2009, including more than 333,275 soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the VA.
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