VETERANS' HOMES GET HEALTH CLINICS

Missouri veterans will find getting health care a little easier with construction of clinics at the state's six veterans' homes.

The project began about three years ago when Sam McVay, administrator of the local Missouri Veterans' Home, recognized the need to provide medical service to veterans at the local level. About that same time, the state began to take an aggressive approach in bringing health care to the veterans instead of making them go to the state facilities for help.

Eventually that led to the opening of a veterans clinic in Cape Girardeau. McVay's interest in the idea of clinics sparked a statewide movement to get the clinics built at the veterans' homes. Missouri lawmakers approved the project, and Gov. Mel Carnahan signed it into law.

The plan is for the Missouri Veterans' Commission to build the clinics with the state's cut of riverboat admission fees. The Missouri Department of Veterans' Affairs will then staff and maintain the clinics.

"This will be a great benefit to veterans' homes," said Robert Buckner, executive director of the Missouri Veterans' Commission. "By having these clinics, it will save those residents who need help from making the long trip to veterans' hospitals."

Buckner said the clinic in Cape Girardeau will be one of the first built because the Cape Girardeau VA Community Clinic, 1923 N. Kingshighway, already exists, and the staff will be able to move to the new location at the veterans' home.

Building the new clinic will take about a year, Buckner said. He said having clinics at the homes is something unique and is indicative of the appreciation Missouri has for veterans.

The clinics will provide services such as outpatient care, and will be primary care providers for veterans in the area. They will be available to veterans' home residents and any veteran in the community.

McVay said one area of care that is especially helpful is prescription renewal. He said before the clinic was in town, veterans had to drive all the way to the John J. Pershing Medical Center in Poplar Bluff just to get their prescription renewed. He said once the clinic moves to the veterans' home, services the clinic provides will continue to expand.

Dewayne Coleman, public affairs officer for the center, said he hopes to see the clinic grow in its new location. He said he does not view the medical services the hospitals provide as being in competition with the clinic.

"The state homes take care of veterans," Coleman said. "We take care of veterans. We have a common mission. It makes sense that we work together."