VA Clinic Opens in Chehalis

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    For years Daryl Stephens drove 70 miles one way for a medical checkup.

    On Tuesday, the Vietnam veteran drove 20 miles from his home in Pe Ell to the new VA Puget Sound Health Care System clinic in Chehalis for a cholesterol diagnosis.

    “I just came in here to check and see if it’s open and they gave me an appointment,” Stephens said.

    Stephens was one of a few thousand veterans in Lewis County who in the past few weeks received a letter from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs stating that they can transfer their care to the new South Sound Community Based Outpatient Clinic in the Lewis County Mall.

    Those letters went out to those who are enrolled in the VA system, but any veteran is eligible for patient care.

    “If you’ve never been in the VA you can come here, and if you’re in the VA you can come here,” said Shane Suzuki, a spokesman for VA Puget Sound.

    Before the new VA clinic opened, most veterans in the Lewis County area, like Stephens, drove to the VA Puget Sound’s American Lake Division in Tacoma for primary care.

    Suzuki said the VA decided to base a clinic in the Twin Cities area after mobilizing a transportable medical clinic to the area last year.

    “We realized there are a lot of vets living in the rural areas,” the former Marine said.

    The Chehalis clinic is the seventh outpatient clinic to open under the VA Puget Sound Health Care System. The rest are in the surrounding Seattle-Tacoma areas.

    Chris Foster, a community based outpatient clinic coordinator for the VA, said the Chehalis clinic is seeing 30 to 40 patients a day.

    The VA clinic has an enrollment capacity of 6,600. It’s been open a couple of weeks now and has seen 500 patients, Suzuki said.

    The clinic currently has one doctor, but up to four will be on staff as enrollment grows.

    “As more vets come in, we bring in more providers,” Suzuki said.

    He added that veterans who like their current providers at another facility are under no pressure to enroll at the Chehalis clinic.



    The 8,800-square foot facility is a primary care clinic that also provides mental health care, social work, lab and basic X-ray services.

    “If you need beyond primary care, we can refer you,” Suzuki said.

    For veterans, any ongoing injury that was incurred during service can be treated by the VA for free. Beyond that, other services require a co-pay, “But they’re very low,” Suzuki said.

    All VA services are free to veterans who have separated from service within the past five years.

    “This is a way to make sure the newest generation gets care,” Suzuki said.

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    Adam Pearson: (360) 807-8208

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Grand Opening

    The VA Puget Sound Health Care System and Sterling Medical Associates have opened a new VA outpatient clinic in the Lewis County Mall in Chehalis.

    On Friday the clinic will have a grand opening from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Veterans who are not enrolled with the VA or receive services elsewhere are invited to sign up at the ceremony.

    The VA clinic’s regular business hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

    It is located at 151 N.E. Hampe Way, Suite B2-6.

    For more information or to transfer services, call (800) 329-8387 (select option No. 2).