(Corrected Address) Mobile Medical Clinic to Temporarily Serve Area Vets

US Dept of Veterans Affairs

 

When the VA Clinic at Prowers Medical Center ceases operation on August 31, the VA will have a mobile clinic in place in Lamar to serve the veterans needs.  According to Dan Warvi, Public Information Officer for Eastern Colorado VA Health Care System, a forty foot long trailer will be set to go on Tuesday, September 3 at (corrected information) Lamar Sportsman RV Park, the former KOA Campgrounds north of Lamar at 5385 Highway 50.   The contract between PMC and the VA for rental of the current clinic will end this month.  Veterans can continue to use the same phone numbers for their medical needs. 

The Veterans Administration hasn’t had much luck in locating a new site for a clinic in Lamar, despite two past attempts at advertising to solicit property owners.  The clinic would require at least from 1,200 to 1,500 square feet which would be made into examination rooms and an office.  Warvi said the mobile unit will be wheelchair accessible and is one of four types of units used in the state.  “It contains two, state-of-the-art examination rooms and will be able to withstand almost any type of severe weather that comes its way,” he explained.   

Warvi added that the VA is resolute in making sure there will be no interruptions of care for area vets.  “The VA is committed that veterans won’t need to travel outside their local area for treatment unless the medical procedure calls for something on the order of an MRI which will have to be done in Denver, otherwise, they won’t need to travel,” he added.  The VA and the Prowers County Commissioners had discussed developing a site at the County Annex along East Cedar Street, but physical requirements there weren’t precisely what the VA required.  Warvi and Jeremy Miller, local VA representative for Prowers County, said the VA and the federal government will be good tenants for any landlord and will work with a property owner in going through the contract language for rental of office space. Interested property owners can contact VA Administrative Officer, Martha Martinez at 719-383-5101 in La Junta for more information. 

Letters are being sent to affected veterans in the region and personal phone calls from the clinic in La Junta are being made to inform the veterans of these changes and how they can use the mobile clinic once it’s set up for their visits. 

By Russ Baldwin

 

Filed Under: BusinessCommissionerscommunityEconomyFeaturedHealthHot TopicsLamarProwers County

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