GREENBRIER COUNTY, W.Va. — A site in Ronceverte has been chosen as the future permanent location for the Greenbrier County VA Clinic.
Those with with the Beckley Department of Veterans Affairs announced the site selected for the Greenbrier Community Based Outpatient Clinic on Friday.
A temporary VA clinic to serve veterans in Greenbrier County and surrounding areas is scheduled to open in Lewisburg in the New Year and remain open until renovation work is completed at the Ronceverte facility. That work could last through much of 2016.
“Today’s announcement is welcome news for the many West Virginia veterans who have had to travel long distances in the absence of a nearby clinic,” U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) said in a statement issued Friday.
U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) agreed.
“We have made an important step to fulfilling our promise of quality care and services to our veterans in southern West Virginia with the announcement of the reopening of the Greenbrier Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC),” he said.
Robert McDonald, secretary of U.S. Veterans Affairs, toured southern West Virginia during a trip to the Mountain State in September and heard from veterans about access to care issues.
The former VA clinic in Greenbrier County, located in Maxwelton, was first closed for air quality issues in June 2014. Tests later found higher than normal levels of formaldehyde.
Though the facility reopened several times, the problems persisted prompting a permanent closure.
Since then, more than 2,000 veterans from counties in southeastern West Virginia have been forced to travel to Beckley for treatment.