Columbus OH VA Clinic handles 310,000 veterans

New VA clinic saluted
Facility has more room, more staff, more services
Monday, October 27, 2008 3:22 AM
By Jeb Phillips

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Almost from the time Columbus' Chalmers P. Wylie Veterans Clinic opened in 1995, it was too small. And space has only become tighter.

The outpatient clinic was designed to handle about 135,000 patient visits per year; it now handles 310,000. Some veterans have to park in the overflow lot at the church across the street, then dodge traffic while crossing Taylor Avenue on the Near East Side.

The clinic staff was sending patients who needed even minor surgeries to VA medical centers in Cincinnati and Dayton. The Columbus clinic didn't have room or the facilities for them.

So it is with relief, and a little giddiness, that the clinic's chief of staff talks about the new $95 million Chalmers P. Wylie Veterans Affairs Ambulatory Care Center. The clinic, at 420 N. James Rd., will be dedicated Thursday and will accept its first patient Nov. 12, the day after Veterans Day.

"It is well-designed as a healing environment," Dr. Miguel LaPuz said.
click post title for more