Veterans Affairs Department Searches for Outpatient Clinic Space in Montgomery County
A search is underway to find a Gaithersburg or Rockville area location for an outpatient clinic to serve veterans in Montgomery County.
That’s the word from U.S. Senators Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin, Maryland Congressman Chris Van Hollen, and Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett who announced this week that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has begun searching for a location in Montgomery County for a new Community-Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC).
Although the VA’s goal is for no veteran to be more than 30 minutes from medical care, many of Montgomery County’s veterans face a much longer drive to reach the VA Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
“Maryland veterans who have fought on the front lines shouldn’t have to stand in line for the care and benefits they have earned and deserve,” Mikulski said. “With a new Community-Based Outpatient Clinic in Montgomery County, veterans will be able to access the care they need from a doctor in their own community. Promises made to our veterans and military families must be promises kept.”
“It is an honor to work on behalf of Maryland’s veterans to ensure that they have access to convenient and quality health care,” said Cardin. “I applaud the VA for its steps to identify a location for the first-ever Community-Based Outpatient Clinic in Montgomery County and urge the agency to make similar efforts for all Maryland veterans who face lengthy travels to receive the health care they so merit.”
Congressman Chris Van Hollen said he has been pushing for this for a while.
“Veterans who fought for our country should not have to fight gridlock and other obstacles get access to health care, which is why I have long pushed for a new Community-Based Outpatient Clinic to better serve our region’s veterans,” he said. “With the process for selecting a location within Montgomery County underway, the long wait for more accessible care is finally almost over.”
County Executive Leggett said it’s important to have a clinic here in Montgomery County for our area’s veterans.
“In 2008, I established the Montgomery County Commission on Veterans Affairs to give our veterans a voice in how the County can best serve them, and they said having services here in the County is a priority,” Leggett said. “Thanks to Congressman Chris Van Hollen and Senators Ben Cardin and Barbara Mikulski for making it happen.”
The VA is searching for space to lease in the Rockville and Gaithersburg area. Of the more than 44,600 veterans living in Montgomery County, more than 10,000 are enrolled in the VA health care system. According to statistics provided by the VA, over 4,000 of these veterans live within easy driving distance of the general area.
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