Veterans getting new VA primary care, outpatient clinic closer to home

GENOA TWP. - Military veterans in and around Livingston County in need of routine medical care or procedures soon will have a new, closer-to-home option for obtaining those services through the VA.

The VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System is gearing up open a new approximately 7,100-square foot community-based outpatient clinic in a portion of an existing medical office building at 3399 E. Grand River Ave. near Howell.

Veteran Mark Kovach, commander of the Disabled American Veterans Livingston County Chapter 125 and the Livingston County Veterans Council, said veterans in the county are excited about the new clinic.

"All these veterans I talk to and see think this is a great thing," he said. "They won’t have to run all the way to Ann Arbor to do simple procedures and blood draws. I think it’s a long time coming"

Spokesman Brian Hayes said the clinic is set to open Nov. 2 and will be similar to a community-based outpatient clinic that opened in 2021 in Adrian. The clinic will offer primary care, mental health services, dietetics, social work, a pharmacy and blood draws.

"It really comes down to finding areas where we feel veterans are underserved," he said. "When we look at that, we find pockets that, if we put one here, veterans might only have to drive five minutes."

He said he expects the new clinic to eventually serve about 5,000 veterans who live within a 30-minute radius.

"The new location was chosen based on analysis of the veteran population around the Livingston County area," VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System officials said in a release. "VAAAHS staff determined many veterans in the area drove greater than 30 minutes for routine medical appointments."

Livingston County Veterans Services Director Ramon Baca said a the clinic is much needed.

"The (clinic) is going to be of great use, a great asset," Baca said. "We have upwards of 10,000 veterans in the county."

Officials also said in the release that Mary Durst, former director of the county Veterans Services, "strongly advocated for a VA clinic near Howell."

Hayes said most Livingston County veterans travel to Ann Arbor for VA services. He said some also might go to the medical center in Detroit or clinics in other communities.

"And if you need specialty care, you can come to the medical center in Ann Arbor, but we want the routine stuff to be close to home," he said.

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He said the Howell-area clinic will employ two full-time medical teams of physicians, nurses, and administrative and support staff.

VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System is leasing the facility. Interior renovations have been underway for months, and they are working on finishing renovations, and setting up equipment and technology.

Once the clinic is open, staff will reach out to veterans who might want to use a clinic and visit doctors closer to home.

Hayes said veterans can also decide to keep their current doctor at other facilities, if they choose.

He said the system operates eight community-based outpatient clinics in Michigan and Toledo, Ohio, and they are looking at northwestern Ohio as a region that also could benefit from a clinic.

"We went the longest time with Jackson, Flint and Toledo," he said. "Over the last few years, we found we needed to get more clinics open."

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County Veterans Services provides transportation to medical appointments for local veterans.

Baca said many of those trips are to health care facilities outside the county.

"We specifically take veterans to medical appointments, not just to the VA in Ann Arbor, but to anywhere in a 50-mile radius," he said.

He said they also transport veterans to appointments at VA medical centers in Lansing and Flint, as well as area medical centers in Ann Arbor, Novi, Southfield and Chelsea.

He said the Howell area also needs specialty care services through the VA, and he hopes the Howell clinic might add services such as physical therapy and optometry at some point in the future.

Contact Livingston Daily reporter Jennifer Eberbach at jeberbach@livingstondaily.com.

This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Veterans getting new VA primary care, outpatient clinic closer to home