Additional VA clinic will open in Columbus after veterans voiced frustration over location

The Columbus and Fort Benning area will see not one but two new Veterans Affairs clinics open in the coming years, Robert Wilkie, secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, announced on Friday.

In addition to the already under construction facility on Mobley Road, Wilkie told reporters Friday at a press conference that another clinic will be built in the downtown area to increase services for local veterans, particularly in the areas of primary care and mental health.

A press release from the office of U.S. Senator David Perdue states the Columbus Downtown VA Clinic is expected to be completed in early 2021, while the Mobley Road clinic, the Columbus Community-Based Outpatient Clinic, is still on track to be completed in 2022.

The downtown clinic “will be approximately 10,000 square feet and include 24 exam rooms and one minor procedure room that will provide space for homeless care, mental health services, visiting specialty care, and telehealth services,” according to the press release. “The new clinic will also offer five consult treatment rooms and 12 administrative areas for home-based primary care and HUD-VASH program staff.”

Wilkie was joined on Friday by Congressman Sanford Bishop, who advocated for local veterans who were upset after not being consulted about the Mobley Road clinic.

The veterans also voiced concerns about accessibility to the new clinic, which is located in north Columbus near the Green Island Hills neighborhood. They suggested that the former county health department building on Comer Avenue would be an ideal space for the clinic.

Bob Poydasheff, a former Columbus mayor and retired Army colonel, said in August that 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.

Bishop said the VA will make sure there is a shuttle available to veterans who need to be transported between the different clinics in the area, which currently include one on Fort Benning and one on 13th Avenue.

One of the most vocal dissenting veterans was Sam Nelson, a retired U.S. Army Lt. Colonel and current chairman of the Chattahoochee Valley Veterans Council.

“If (Wilkie) does what he says he’ll do, things are going to get a lot better a lot quicker around here,” Nelson said following Friday’s announcement. “It’s not a total win but it’s an excellent compromise.”

Another veteran, Marvin Broadwater Sr., a retired U.S. Army Sergeant First Class, was also pleased with the announcement.

“I am so proud of our secretary of Veterans Affairs, and I’m also proud of our Congressman Sanford Bishop,” he said. “Because I’m an advocate of all the veterans on Cusseta Road, Benning Road, those veterans now will have an opportunity to go to a facility that’s downtown. That’s all this thing was for, that’s all the fight was for, that’s all we want to do: just let veterans know that we care.”

When local veterans learned about the location of the Mobley Road clinic earlier this year, they went to Bishop with their concerns. Bishop wrote to Wilkie on June 22 and asked him to examine the Comer Avenue building, which is under the ownership of Pezold Companies, to consider it for a VA clinic.

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 district where many veterans currently access services...is on a central bus route...and currently houses the VA Job Rehabilitation and Placement Center.”

Wilkie said that without Bishop bringing the issue to his attention, a second new clinic probably wouldn’t be on the table.

Georgia has the fastest growing veterans population in the country, according to Wilkie, statistics that solidify the decision to add more services to the region, which encompasses central Alabama and western Georgia.

This story was originally published September 4, 2020 at 2:24 PM.