“I am pleased to hear the hours at the clinic will be extended, but I am even more proud of the way the people of this county and surrounding area came together to support our veterans,” says Salem American Legion Post Chaplain Richard LaBrash, who helped lead the local advocacy effort to expand the clinic’s availability. “We strongly urge all local veterans to enroll in the VA healthcare system whether you need it or not. You never know what will happen in life and you may find you’ll need it one day. I also encourage every veteran in Dent County to attend Jan. 17 to show your support for the clinic’s opening.”

The clinic will now be located in Physician’s Office Building 1 (Suite 1) on the campus of Salem Memorial District Hospital. Clinic hours will be 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday for all business office and triage needs, with an onsite health care provider available on Thursdays and Fridays.

“We want to be your medical home,” said Dr. Patricia (Ten Haaf) Hall, Director of the John J. Pershing VA Medical Center. “Our providers are anxious to meet your health care needs. We have heard the veterans’ message that they want primary care closer to home, and we have responded to that request.”

Hall also said as enrollment at the clinic increases to require additional provider hours, the medical center will evaluate expanding the days a provider will be on site.

“I’m pleased the VA listened to the needs of rural veterans, and I look forward to continuing to work with them as they move forward with the expansion,” said Sen. Claire McCaskill, the daughter of a World War II veteran and senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee in a press release to The Salem News. “Our veterans deserve the highest quality of care regardless of where they live, and this expansion is a step towards achieving that goal.”

McCaskill was the first of Missouri’s federal legislators to call for expanding the availability to the Salem VA Clinic. She was later joined by Eighth District Representative Jason Smith and Senator Roy Blunt.

These federal lawmakers became aware of the issue earlier this year after veterans with the local American Legion and VFW joined forces to launch a five-county petition drive calling for the clinic’s expansion. The petition effort was the first joint campaign in the history of the institutions.

More than 30 businesses in Dent County signed up to be official signing locations. Petition organizers announced Sept. 15 the effort collected approximately 5,700 signatures from registered voters in those five counties, with 1,600 signers being veterans.