Lake Charles holds dedication ceremony
The Deputy VA Secretary Thomas Bowman, VISN 16 Network Director Skye McDougall, and other key activation staff, officially cut the ribbon opening the Lake Charles CBOC. Harold Gournay, a World War II Veteran and former prisoner of war assisted with the opening.
New Veterans Clinic Comes to Lake Charles
Veterans in southwest Louisiana can now travel a shorter distance for health care. The Lake Charles Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) opened Aug. 28, 2017, to Veterans, however; it is now official, following the ribbon cutting Oct. 20, dedicating the clinic. The Deputy VA Secretary Thomas Bowman, attended the event, and was very pleased with the facility and community partners.
During his remarks, Bowman stated that he was impressed with the facility and proud to be in Lake Charles so he could join with Veterans, VA staff and volunteers to officially open its doors. Bowman acknowledged the great support of many stakeholders throughout Louisiana who helped make this state of the art facility come to fruition.
The new clinic boasts many upgraded features. The list includes a new physical therapy gym, expanded mental health services, Telehealth, increased patient examination rooms, women’s health, X-ray imaging, nutrition, pharmacy, dental, eye care, prosthetics, and additional parking.
“We have nearly 7,000 enrolled Veterans in the Lake Charles area,” said Skye McDougall, Network Director for VISN 16. “As we all work together, hopefully every Lake Charles Veteran, and those in surrounding parishes, will choose VA. The clinic is very impressive, from the construction, to some of the most advanced health care equipment available. This will greatly improve access and offer Veterans a more convenient location for quality health care.”
“This new clinic greatly improves access to care for the Veterans of southwest Louisiana by providing primary care (including women’s health), general and specialty mental health along with many specialty services,” said Pete Dancy, director, Alexandria VA Health Care System. “We enjoyed taking the community, our veteran guests and visitors on guided tours of our beautiful new addition here in Lake Charles and seeing how VA is able to assist veterans with their health care needs.”
The Deputy Secretary presented coins to members of the Lake Charles team, met with congressional partners, visited with Veterans, including local World War II Veterans and a former Prisoner of War. Approximately 300 Louisianans, from the Lake Charles area, attended the ribbon cutting and dedication.
