New Veteran Affairs clinic opens in Perry

PERRY — A new Veterans Affairs Clinic has just opened to the public. The clinic, located on 1309 South Main Street, opened on Monday, March 3, and its hours of operation are Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 

The clinic will have its formal ribbon cutting on March 31st at 1 p.m.

The VA clinic in Perry is run by VA Dublin Healthcare System. Interim Medical Center Director Chandra Miller said the new outpatient clinic in Perry is a state-of-the-art, modernized clinic for the veterans of Houston County. 

“This [clinic] opens up access to care for our primary care and mental health. We’ll be able to offer  physical therapy and occupational therapy,” she said. 

Miller said they had a small clinic in Perry which was about 2,700 square feet. This new outpatient clinic is 27,000 square feet. The clinic will also offer teleretinal, telederm, whole health services, dietary services, audiology, and laboratory  services. 

“We also have police services on station, but also [this clinic] allows us in the future to offer radiology and a nail technician on site for diabetic foot care,” she said. “We specialize in their foundational care which is  primary care and mental health while being able to truly honor our veterans’ needs and strive to be a place where our veterans can feel confident that they are receiving the best care possible tailored to their specific needs. We just want to be a clinic that they can trust.” 

Houston County is one of their fastest-growing areas and Miller said their goal is to always put the care where the veterans are. She also wants to encourage the veterans who are not enrolled to enroll for healthcare. 

“Now that we’ve opened up this start-of-the-art clinic for our veterans and be able to provide them even more services, the goal is for them to be able to not travel to the main campus or to other clinics within our catchment area to receive the care that they need,” she said. “This provides them timely access to care.” 

In getting a VA clinic to the City of Perry, Miller said they had to get approved for a site all the way up to the national office. 

“We have to be able to look at our data, be able to show our growth, be able to show the amount of veterans in the area, and have to have [the clinic] funded as it takes a lot of strategic planning,” she said. “It takes quite a long time, about three to five years to get this clinic as it is quite a long process, and we’re super excited to be at the end of that process.” 

With the VA clinic in Perry just now opening their doors, Miller said they have received many veterans already enrolling and veterans moving to the area, transferring their care from other VA clinics to here.  

She said that VA clinics are always there for veterans whenever they need care. 

“We hope to provide the confidence that we are always there for them and that they have their individual needs met while getting the timeliness and quality of care,” she said. “This is what we owe them. I’m a veteran myself, my husband’s a veteran, and I have three sons who are veterans, so this mission is near and dear to my heart.” 

Miller encourages veterans who have not enrolled to reach out to their enrollment and eligibility department to sign up for healthcare benefits. They can reach out to Seandell Mills at (478) 272-1210 ext. 74194 or at seandell.mills@va.gov.