Martin Army, VA to open clinic

FORT BENNING, Ga., (June 24, 2015) -- Primary Care services for veterans living in and near Columbus will relocate from the Columbus Community-Based Outpatient Clinic to the newly renovated Building 9214 at Fort Benning starting July 6 under a resource sharing agreement between the Department of Veterans Affairs and Martin Army Community Hospital.

The 19,000 square feet Fort Benning VA Clinic will improve access, quality and cost effectiveness of health care for veterans, officials said. Also available to them, with a referral from their Primary Care physician, are 18 specialty clinics housed in Martin Army - the newest hospital in the Army inventory.

Col. Scott B. Avery, hospital commander, called the partnership a growing opportunity for Fort Benning and the surrounding communities.

"We see this as just the beginning. This partnership we have with the VA, there's really no limit. Maximizing the investment made in the new hospital at Fort Benning fits in with our Soldier for Life concept. We think the sky's the limit with this partnership, and we want to serve you," Avery said. "I'm supremely confident that (veterans) will be able to get the best out of health care in the Columbus, Phenix City and Fort Benning areas.

The announcement was made during the Veterans Town Hall June 19 at the Columbus Public Library, hosted by the Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System.

The VA's priority goals such as access, mental health care improvement and patient satisfaction were discussed at the meeting, with the focus on the new outpatient VA clinic at Fort Benning.

Currently, the Columbus CBOC at 1310 13th Ave. handles Primary Care. Starting July 6, the Columbus CBOC will focus on mental health and will offer the following services: compensation and pension, eligibility, patient photo ID, Optometry and Podiatry.

The Fort Benning expansion will make the following improvements:

• Offer a full complement of Primary Care providers with integrated mental health services

• Increase staff to four Behavioral Health Interdisciplinary Teams, creating availability for 4,000 Veterans

• Increase Primary Care Patient Aligned Care Teams to allow more than 13,000 veterans to be served

• Implement tele-health hubs to provide an additional 96 appointments per week

Dietary, social work, clinical pharmacy and laboratory services also will be available to veterans at the Fort Benning VA Clinic.

An open house for veterans will take place from noon to 2 p.m. July 8 at Fort Benning.

For more information and to determine eligibility for services at Martin Army, visit www.martin.amedd.army.mil/Documents/VATHHandout.pdf.