New Springfield VA Clinic now set to open mid-December

There is an updated target date for when the new Veteran's Clinic will open in Springfield on Republic Road. Initially it was set to open October 1; it is now mid-December.

Right now, many local veterans who need care have to drive to Mount Vernon, or even Fayetteville, Ark. to get more serious procedures done.

Officials with the Veteran's Administration tell us it has been a complex move.

"With the medical equipment we are trying to get installed in buying and the long lead times, and for our clinical furniture and that kind of thing... which is why we pushed it back because we want to do it right," explained Jacque Long, the facility planner for the new clinic. Long gave us a tour on Monday. Much of the equipment is in place-- and they'll add two important services that the Mt. Vernon clinic doesn't offer.

"Endoscopy and dental will be provided here," Long said.

Patients say they're ready for the opening, and hope veterans will get more timely and better care here.

"The doctors at Cox-- they knew what was going on with me... I had to go to surgery, and it just seems like VA just doesn't have the equipment, and they're hesitant to send you for anything," said Gulf War combat veteran Bryan Shelton. Shelton has been traveling to Mount Vernon every 3 months for the past 11 years to be treated for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

"I've seen a lot of things over there I wish I could forget."

Shelton says he knows the problems within the VA system, but is glad to have it. He's just hopeful a new building will mean a new start-- but in the Show Me State, he says "Show Me."

"It has been hard getting a doctor... knowledgeable doctors there... the bureaucracy of needing treatment is a little hard. If something major was to happen and you go to the Emergency Room, it's iffy if they cover it or not... it may be out of pocket," Shelton explained.

There is also another new VA clinic opening in Joplin in January 2019.

Once both are open, then the VA Clinic in Mt. Vernon will no longer be operational. All patients will be notified via mail, once the new clinics are open for business.