Veterans will have easier access to world-class healthcare under a Department of Veterans Affairs plan to open 31 new outpatient clinics in 16 states, according to Secretary of Veterans Affairs James B. Peake, MD.
"Community-based medicine is better medicine," said Michael Kussman, MD, VA's Under Secretary for Health. "It makes preventative care easier for patients, helps healthcare professionals have closer relationships with their patients and permits easier follow-ups for patients with chronic health problems."
The community-based outpatient clinics, or CBOCs, will become operational by late 2010, with some opening in 2009. Local VA officials will keep communities and their veterans informed of milestones in the creation of the new CBOCs.
The VA will establish new clinics in: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Vermont.
With 153 hospitals and about 745 community-based clinics, VA operates the largest integrated healthcare system in the country. VA's medical care budget of more than $41 billion this year will provide healthcare to about 5.8 million people during nearly 600,000 hospitalizations and more than 62 million outpatient visits.
"VA is committed to providing world-class healthcare to the men and women who have served this nation," Peake said. "These new clinics will bring VA's top-notch care closer to the veterans who have earned it."