Senator Sherrod Brown

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) today announced that the U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) will open a new community based outpatient clinic in Gallia County. The clinic is one of more than 40 health facilities across the U.S. that the VA plans to open over the next year and a half.

Clinics like the one planned for Gallia County are part of a 21 state regional clinic network that aims to reduce the distance veterans must travel to receive care at a VA hospital or clinic.

“This is good news for veterans in Gallia and surrounding counties,” said Senator Brown. “Increasing access to care for Ohio’s veterans living in rural areas is necessary. The Community Based Outpatient Clinic to be built in Gallia County is a vital part of the effort to better serve our veterans who have put their lives on the line to protect our country.”

The VA plans to open its series of 44 new community-based health clinics over the next 15 months. The openings will increase the VA network of community health clinics to more than 780, which is an increase of more than 100 in five years.

The VA Medical Center in Huntington, WV will serve as the parent facility to the Gallia County community health center. VAMC Huntington predicts the Gallipolis clinic could serve more than 2,100 patients and could grow to serve almost 4,000 patients by the third year of the clinic’s existence.

Veterans in Gallia County can expect the new health clinic to provide on-site primary care and mental health services. Other available services will include optometry, podiatry, phlebotomy, social work, pharmaceutical counseling, and pharmacy fills. In addition, many of the new clinics include a state-of-the-art telehealth system which allows for consultations with doctors specializing in such services as cardiac care and mental health. The telehealth system is linked for video consultations and telemetry of health data and images.