COLORADO SPRINGS — The new Space Center VA clinic will celebrate its official opening Wednesday morning on the east side of Colorado Springs.
The clinic will focus on providing primary care, mental health services, physical therapy, and laboratory services for veterans. It is one of three expansions by the VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System (ECHCS) for veteran healthcare in the area.
In April, VA ECHCS doubled the size of its already existing Union Boulevard VA Clinic that opened in 2020. The expansion added a 9,000-square-foot first-floor suite to provide more primary care services.
In May, the VA ECHCS opened a brand new Garden of the Gods VA Clinic which specializes in services for veterans experiencing homelessness and provides intensive community mental health recovery and vocational rehabilitation services.
From 2010 to 2020, the number of Colorado Springs veterans enrolled in VA health care increased by 110%. Dustin Senger, Deputy Public Affairs Officer for VA ECHCS, said those numbers showed the need for more clinics in addition to the PFC Floyd K. Lindstrom VA Clinic on Centennial Boulevard.
"We're taking some of our primary care teams out of Lindstrom and that's freeing up some space for some added specialty care services here in Colorado Springs," he said.
Jay Bowen, a veteran living in Colorado Springs, said he believes the new Space Center VA Clinic will cut wait times to see providers.
"It'll help dramatically. There will be more primary care providers. There will be more specialists in the field that can address certain issues like mental health," he said.
Senger said the goal is to move more primary care services and teams closer to where veterans live.
"We've already heard a lot of great feedback where veterans are kind of relieved. They don't have to come all the way to the side of the town," he said.
Community leaders and veterans will host an open house for the official opening of the Space Center VA Clinic from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Wednesday at the Premier Health Plaza Suite 130 on 565 Space Center Drive in Colorado Springs.
____
Watch KOAA News5 on your time, anytime with our free streaming app available for your Roku, FireTV, AppleTV and Android TV. Just search KOAA News5, download and start watching.