VA to open clinic in Wasilla

WASILLA — Veterans in the Mat-Su Valley will have easier access to a Veterans Affairs clinic after a site selection committee chose the MeridianPoint Office Center on Seward Meridian Parkway in Wasilla.

The Wasilla clinic is scheduled to open by the end of this calendar year.

The clinic will provide veterans with primary care, including prevention of disease, early detection and health promotion, as well as mental health services, according to a statement from the Alaska VA Healthcare System.

Twelve percent of veterans in Alaska live in the Mat-Su Valley, according to Alaska VA.

The new facility could be a boon to local veterans tired of making the drive to Anchorage.

“Anytime you can improve access to primary care for our residents, in this case our veterans, it’s a good thing,” said Elizabeth Ripley, the executive director of the Mat-Su Health Foundation.

Marcia Hoffman-DeVoe, the Alaska VA’s public affairs officer, said the clinic came about after local veterans expressed a need for it and VA studies backed that need.

“The veterans out there have been asking for it,” Hoffman-DeVoe said from Anchorage.

According to the Alaska VA Healthcare System, the clinic will be staffed by a primary care physician, a mental health provider, a registered nurse manager, clinic RN, a licensed clinical social worker and a phlebotomist/health technician.

Also, a patient services assistant will be on staff.

“The Alaska VA is very pleased to offer expanded VA medical services in the Valley,” Alex Spector, director of the AVAHS, said in the statement. “We plan to have a Veterans Town Hall in the near future to answer questions individuals may have regarding the clinic and VA healthcare.”

According to Alaska VA, the organization opened clinics in Anchorage in 1992, Fairbanks in 1997 and Kenai in 2001. Along with the Valley, there is also a clinic planned for Juneau.

Contact Michael Rovito at michael.rovito@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.