VETERANS AFFAIRS REPORTS THE OPENING IS OCT. 13, NOT OCT. 30.
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The new Veterans Affairs clinic under construction in Clearlake is on schedule to open in October, the county's veterans service officer and health department head said Thursday.
Jim Brown said a grand opening for the new clinic is scheduled for 1 p.m. Oct. 13. Local dignitaries and Congressman Mike Thompson will be on hand for the event.
The 10,000-square-foot clinic is located at 15145 Lakeshore Drive, with Vila Construction Co. of Richmond doing the construction work, as Lake County News has reported.
The groundbreaking for the project – which had at least 10 years of lobbying behind it – took place last April.
The VA has been handling oversight of the construction and keeping the county informed, with Brown saying he's getting updates on the progress.
At the same time, Veterans Service Office staff have been busy enrolling veterans who want to receive the health care services offered there, he said.
Brown said it's estimated that there eventually will be about 3,500 vets enrolled for the clinic's services. Altogether, the county has a veterans population of about 8,000.
Some of those veterans who currently want to transfer health services from Ukiah and Santa Rosa may be held off until newer enrollees are brought in, he said.
The Veterans Service Office also will have space at the clinic, according to Brown.
“We do expect to have some presence in the clinic, probably about two days of the week,” he said.
The Veterans Service Office staff will be “doing everything,” said Brown, from talking about health care issues and enrollments to giving information about home loans.
While veterans will be able to get a wide array of general health care services at the clinic, Brown said major procedures will still require travel to Santa Rosa or San Francisco.
Currently, veterans can catch a bus from Clearlake City Hall down to the Bay Area every weekday morning at 5 a.m. for major treatments, but the clinic may now serve as a staging place for those trips, he said.
“That's something that we've just started talking about,” Brown added.
Brown said those trips and the associated logistics will be overseen by the VA.
For veterans wanting to enroll for health services, it's not too late. Call the Lake County Veterans Service Office at 707-263-2384.
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