Congratulations to everyone involved in landing a regional veterans clinic for Logansport.

U.S. Rep. Joe Donnelly made the announcement during a news conference on Monday. He said the facility would be the first of its kind in the nation, offering services from three divisions of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs — the health administration, the benefits administration and Vet Centers.

In the beginning, the clinic will be open perhaps two days a week.

It will offer outpatient group therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder twice a month, and it might also offer other treatments, such as substance-abuse counseling.

The center will have a benefits counselor available two days a week to help with the processing of benefits, and it will have a counselor available two days a month to provide psychological assessments and readjustment counseling to individuals, groups and families.

He said Cass County was chosen because of its location. Donnelly expects the facility to draw veterans from six counties.

The center’s arrival will be welcome news to the more than 4,400 veterans living in Cass County. Those veterans now have to drive as far as Indianapolis, Marion and Fort Wayne to obtain the services to be offered at the clinic.

Putting services from various branches of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs under one roof makes great sense.

Donnelly said there was no timeline for opening the center. During the news conference, he said he and the VA were working to find a location in or near Logansport.

As Larry Lowry, the county’s veterans service officer, pointed out, the announcement came at a good time for the National Guard members who will be returning to Cass County in the coming year from deployments in Iraq and elsewhere.

Many of these individuals will need the services the clinic will offer. It’s great news that they might soon be able to find them closer to home.