WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley today said the Department of Veterans Affairs has given final approval for the opening of the Spirit Lake Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic. The Sioux Falls Veterans Affairs Medical Center will now begin the implementation process for the Spirit Lake facility.
“Veterans in Northwest Iowa often have had to travel more than a hundred miles to get the basic health care services they need. Now, our veterans will be able to get to an outpatient clinic without spending an entire day in the car.” Grassley said. “Today’s practice of medicine is much different than it was 74 years ago, which makes outpatient clinics like the Spirit Lake facility a positive development for veterans."
According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, nearly 80 percent of the health care provided by the VA hospitals is outpatient care.
This is one of a series of Community Based Outpatient Centers that were recommended as part of the CARES process, an effort by the Department of Veterans Affairs to modernize its health care facilities, pending sufficient funding to open and sustain the new clinics.
Last year, Congress provided $22.5 billion for VA medical care, which is a $3.2 billion increase over the previous year. This increase, combined with the President’s request for another $3.5 billion increase for the next fiscal year, gives the Department of Veterans Affairs greater opportunities to open new outpatient clinics this year and next year, including some of the other proposed clinics in Iowa.
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