VETERANS OUTPATIENT CLINICS DELAYED

It's back to the drawing boards for veterans outpatient clinics, planned for construction at six Missouri State Veterans Homes, including Cape Girardeau.

"The bids were over budget at every location," said Robert R. Buckner, executive director of the Missouri Veterans Commission. "They ranged from about $700,000 to as much as $3 million."

Missouri passed legislation last year to fund the construction of six new community-based outpatient clinics for veterans o the grounds of existing veterans homes.

"Construction was expected to start here in September," said Sam McVay, administrator of the Cape Girardeau veterans home, 2400 Veterans Memorial Drive.

The Veterans Commission is going back to the Legislature to seek additional funding and the clinics will be re-bid, Buckner said.

The construction of the clinics will not only benefit the residents of state veterans homes, but eligible veterans may choose to receive their primary care at theses clinics.

The Missouri Veterans Commission is responsible for the operation of statewide programs offering benefits and services to Missouri 564,00 veterans and their eligible dependents.

Once the new outpatient clinics are completed, the VA medical centers, under the guidance of the Veterans Healthcare Administration Network, will be responsible for operation of the clinics.

Some of the funding for the new outpatient clinics will come from admissions to riverboat casinos in the state.

"Hopefully, the budget request won't delay the construction that much," said Buckner. "If we started construction now, we'd have to go through the winter, possibly with some delays. If we can get approval for the supplementary budget in January, we could still start construction in April."

Cape Girardeau has a VA Outpatient Clinic in, located at 1923 N. Kingshighway. It recently observed its first year of operation.