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Veterans outpatient clinic officially open
Published December 6, 2009
Del Rio veterans can now receive outpatient medical services here.
U.S. Rep. Ciro D. Rodriguez (D-TX) joined Marie Weldon, director of the South Texas Veterans Health Care System, city and county elected leaders and the leaders of veterans service organizations joined about 75 veterans Saturday morning to celebrate the opening of the veterans outpatient clinic at the Family Care Clinic, 119 E. Academy St.
“A lot of our veterans are getting up there in years. They're hurting and they can't travel, so this is really a great day for our veterans,” said Val Verde County Commissioner Precinct 1 Ramiro V. Ramon before the start of the ribbon cutting ceremony.
He added, “This is something that Congressman Rodriguez has been working for, Mr. (Juan) Mireles, the commissioners. It's good that the veterans will have access to medical services here in Del Rio and won't have to travel to Kerrville or San Antonio.”
Weldon, who also served as the emcee for the event, encouraged veterans from the area who want more information about the clinic and the services that can be provided, to call.
“I would encourage them to call our eligibility office and they can do that through the main office at Audie Murphy Hospital in San Antonio. But they can also call the Kerrville hospital, if they're more familiar with that, because it's all one big system, and talk to our eligibility department and that's who advises our veterans if they've never been in the system before, whether or not they're eligible for care and they will help them fill out an application for eligibility. That's the first step,” Weldon said.
She noted the most important aspect of the clinic is “providing (medical) care closer to home, so it's not such a hardship for our rural veterans to have to drive hours to a VA hospital or clinic.”
Val Verde County Commissioner Precinct 4 Jesus “Cheo” Ortiz said, “This is a great day for our veterans. We've been looking for this for a long time. I had very little to do with it, but I have always supported the group that got together, all of the different veterans organizations, to finally get this done. And thanks to Ciro (Rodriguez), who helped a great deal in getting this through up there.
“It's great because we no longer have to get up at 4 in the morning and go in the van. Now we can come here,” said Ortiz, himself a military veteran who says he plans to use the new outpatient clinic.
U.S. Rep. Ciro D. Rodriguez said the new outpatient clinic will serve veterans in Crockett, Kinney, Schleicher, Sutton, Terrell and Val Verde counties.
Rodriguez thanked the key players involved in the work that preceded the opening of the outpatient clinic, including local elected leaders, the commanders of a number of area veterans organizations and Mary Parrish, family nurse practitioner of the Family Care Clinic, where the veterans outpatient clinic is located.
Rodriguez said similar facilities have opened in Ft. Stockton, Uvalde and south Bexar County, and work continues to open a clinic in Maverick County.
“Great steps forward have been taken in providing access to health care to rural veterans, so they don't have to go all the way to San Antonio and in some cases, in far west Texas, all the way to Albuquerque,” Rodriguez said. “The Veterans Administration has been working hard for a very long time to make these clinics a reality.”
“This was not one individual working to make this happen. This has been everybody pushing together,” Rodriguez added.
Following the ribbon cutting ceremony, Del Rio City Councilwoman Mary Ann Zepeda, whose late husband was active in local veterans issues, said, “This is an accomplishment for all of the veterans. A lot of the veterans have had to go to different parts of the state for medical care. . .It was something that was needed very badly and it is awesome that all of the veterans groups got together, along with our city, county, state and national elected officials and the Family Care Clinic to make this a reality.”
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