Columbus veterans propose location for new VA clinic, even as dirt moves on chosen site

Veterans who have fought for a new medical clinic in Columbus for 20 years are asking the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to reconsider the north Columbus location it chose, even as dirt is moving on the project.

Calling a news conference Tuesday, representatives from several veterans groups said no local veterans organizations were consulted about the 70,000 square foot facility under construction at Mobley Road and River Road.

They want the VA to stop that work and reconsider its decision to build in north Columbus, where they say poor and marginalized veterans will have difficulty accessing services, and propose a solution they say would enable the city to serve more veterans within 30 days.

Bob Poydasheff, a former Columbus mayor and retired Army colonel, said he personally doesn’t have to worry about getting healthcare but worries for his fellow veterans.

“But what about the homeless veterans, what about the Black veterans, what about the Hispanic and Latino, the Asian, Pacific islanders who don’t live up in north Columbus?” he asked.

An alternative

Poydasheff said the group wants VA Secretary Robert Wilkie to re-evaluate the location and consider putting the clinic in the former Columbus Public Health Department building on Comer Avenue.

Many city services vacated that building in June, leaving more than 70,000 square feet up for rent, according to Cassie Myers, director of marketing and public relations for Pezold Companies, the owner of the building.

Myers led reporters on a tour of the empty building Tuesday, stating 50,000 square feet could be made ready to accept patients within 30 days.

A meeting this month between Wilkie and the veterans could include a tour of the property if desired by the Secretary, Myers said.

The meeting is a result of the veterans asking Congressman Sanford Bishop for his help. Bishop wrote to Wilkie on June 22 and asked him to examine the Comer Avenue building.

Along with being one block from Piedmont Columbus Regional, Bishop said the building is a good option because it is “located in the main health health district where many veterans currently access services...is on a central bus route...and currently houses the VA Job Rehabilitation and Placement Center.”

Using the Comer Avenue building could give the VA time to select an alternative site for the new clinic, said Poydasheff, who referred to the current VA clinic on 13th Street and 13th Avenue as a “piece of garbage.”

‘That decision process ought to be transparent’

Retired Army Lt. Col. Sam Nelson said the River Road clinic will be easily accessible to rich veterans, but not poor ones. He said it could cost $50 round trip to take a cab to the clinic from south Columbus, or take 90 minutes to two hours to ride there and back on the city’s METRA bus service.

That’s unacceptable, he said: “Would somebody with some common sense look at this thing?”

Pat Liddell, a retired Army master sergeant and commander of the American Legion Post 333, said the VA has to serve veterans in a 10-county region, but choosing the north Columbus site violates its own regulations.

“The regulation for the VA says that a clinic is supposed to be put where the majority of the minority is,” she said, meaning located nearest the largest group of people in need. “The majority is in south Columbus.”

The veterans already have complained to Columbus Council, but because the land the VA chose was zoned appropriately, councilors had no say in the matter.

At-large District 10 Councilor John House, himself a retired Army colonel, said the main question is why the VA picked the site.

“They’re supposed to include the stakeholders and I haven’t found anybody here yet that I would consider a stakeholder that had a clue why that decision was made,” House said. “I think as a minimum the VA owes us an explanation as to why they picked there and how they overcome all the issues that other speakers have brought up.”

Veterans will be able to reach the River Road location, he said, but it will be more of a challenge than before.

“I’m thrilled the VA is going to build the clinic. It should have been here years and years and years ago,” he said. “It’s going to have some great services in it. But that decision process ought to be transparent, and it absolutely is not.”

In September 2018, the VA confirmed it had selected a location for the clinic at 2357 Warm Springs Road, the 12-acre site of a former Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia office.

That plan later was scrapped, and the VA instead picked the River Road location.

In a July council meeting, Mayor Skip Henderson said he didn’t know where the clinic would be until the VA already had signed the contract.

The Ledger-Enquirer was unable to reach a VA representative before publication.

This story was originally published August 5, 2020 at 4:36 PM.