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3-year drive for VA clinic resolved

Clay Today
Posted 8/1/18

DOCTORS INLET – The Doctors Inlet Center on College Drive will be getting a new tenant soon.

After working on the issue for three years, Congressman Ted Yoho(R-3) of Gainesville announced Aug. 1 …

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3-year drive for VA clinic resolved


Posted

DOCTORS INLET – The Doctors Inlet Center on College Drive will be getting a new tenant soon.

After working on the issue for three years, Congressman Ted Yoho(R-3) of Gainesville announced Aug. 1 that a 10-year lease has been signed at 400 College Dr. to establish a Veteran Affairs Clinic at the site. Clay County has a population of approximately 29,000 veterans. Currently, there are approximately 11,000 veterans enrolled for care within the North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System.

“I am absolutely thrilled to be able to share today that Clay County is getting their clinic. This project has been a priority for our team and I want to commend all our stakeholders who helped make this happen. There has been such a demand and a need for this project and I want to thank the VA for their efforts on this project,” Yoho said.

The new clinic will include primary care, mental health services, lab draws and select specialty care via telehealth. Once online, the clinic is projected to attract approximately 4,500 new Veterans and serve more than 11,000 veteran enrollees in the following years. The awarded lease has an initial contract for a 10-year lease. Construction timeline and activation schedules will be determined in post-award design meetings that Congressman Yoho will take part in. No details were provided about the size of the project, the cost or the target date for opening.

“We cannot do enough for our veterans and look forward to the increased care and service that will be provided out of this clinic. While today we celebrate this milestone, we still have work to do and will be working closely with the awardee and the VA in design and planning meetings to make sure we get this to the finish line as quickly as possible. This is a major win for Clay County but also for all Veterans in the region. This is a project that we were not willing to give up on and we refused to let this chance slip away,” Yoho said.

In 2016, 2017 and again in February of 2018, Yoho hosted community stakeholders, leaders and local veterans in the county to make potential bidders aware of the multiple proposals available for this project. Despite the first two rounds of VA RFP’s going unanswered, Yoho continued to garner support for the project. In February, several proposals for the project were submitted, which led to this week’s announcement.

In addition to maintaining regular communication throughout this process with local stakeholders, Rep. Yoho has launched a section on his website that is dedicated to the progress of this Clay County VA Clinic.