Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman Joe Donnelly supported The Veterans Health Care Facilities Capital Improvement Act of 2011, H.R. 2646, which authorizes $6,731,000 for an expanded VA Community Based Outpatient Clinic in South Bend. The bill passed the House with a bipartisan vote of 412 to 3.
“Since I took office in 2007, I have worked tirelessly to improve care for veterans in the South Bend area,” said Donnelly. “The House authorization of $6.7 million for this new veterans’ health facility is the most significant step toward that goal since the VA announced approval of a larger South Bend VA facility in April of 2009. This new health facility will mean that Hoosier veterans in the South Bend area will not need to travel as frequently to Fort Wayne, Marion, or Indianapolis to get the kind of care that most Hoosiers get close to home. Veterans have earned quality, accessible medical care with their service to our country.”
As planned, the expanded VA Community Based Outpatient Clinic will be a leased 65,000 square foot facility, nearly 10 times the size of the current South Bend clinic. It will offer primary care, expanded mental health care, laboratory, radiology, audiology, and pharmacy services and outreach programs for newly-returning veterans. Donnelly will continue to advocate for the clinic to contract with local hospitals to provide routine inpatient care for area veterans. The location and whether it will be new construction or in an existing building have not yet been determined by the VA. The VA expects to open the new facility in 2015.
Donnelly has worked with the VA to improve medical care for veterans in the South Bend area since he took office in 2007. In April 2009, VA Secretary General Eric Shinseki announced approval of a new medical facility in South Bend. This project was also included in the President’s FY2012 budget request submitted to Congress this year. The House’s approval of $6.7 million today is the most significant milestone towards improved care for South Bend area veterans since Shinseki’s announcement.
Donnelly has also successfully advocated for the opening of the Logansport Veterans’ Multi-Use Outreach Clinic in June 2008, the Goshen VA Community-Based Outreach Clinic in October 2008, and the Peru VA Community-Based Outreach Clinic in June 2010.
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