Officials say VA clinic should be opening soon
Although a location for a new veterans outpatient clinic for Fayette County has not yet been announced, some officials are confident it could be up and running sometime in January, as promised earlier this year, while others say in February or even March. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony J. Principi told a group of Fayette County veterans in July that a community-based outpatient clinic would open in Fayette County within six months. Proposals for the new clinic had to be submitted to the VA by Sept. 20, and sites had to be within five miles of the Uniontown city limits, since Uniontown is the county seat.
Brownsville General Hospital submitted a proposal for the clinic, even though it was beyond the five-mile limit.
“We haven’t heard anything from the VA in months,” said the hospital’s chief executive officer Mike Evans.
Fayette County Veterans Affairs Director Robert Hixson said VA officials looked at three sites in Uniontown. He added that most likely one of those sites will be announced as the selection shortly.
“They have made a selection, but they haven’t announced it yet,” Hixson said of the federal officials handling the project.
The Pittsburgh VA director made the recommendation, which must now be approved by the Veterans Affairs Health Administration and the office of general counsel, before getting final approval from the VA secretary.
“A proposed site for a veterans clinic in Fayette County is currently pending final approval by the Veterans Administration. Secretary Principi has previously stated a desire to have the clinic open by January 2005, and we have been in frequent contact with his office to encourage that this date be met. When the clinic is open, it will be a tremendous resource for the veterans in the area. Our office will continue to closely monitor the clinic’s progress,” said a spokesman for U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter.
According to Specter’s office, once the new site is announced, it could be open within weeks, as happened recently with a clinic in Northampton County. The Fayette County VA Clinic contract will be given to a provider that already has facilities in place, Specter’s staff said.
David Cowgill, the head of public relations for the VA in Pittsburgh, said a January opening date would be optimistic.
“If we hear today, we could be open by the end of January, conceivably. Usually it’s four to eight weeks after approval,” Cowgill said.
He said the matter is in the hands of officials in Washington, D.C.
“We expedited everything the way we were asked to do,” Cowgill said.
He said all aspects of the proposal process are confidential until the final contract is awarded.