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The grand opening celebration Wednesday for the new Department of Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic on 12th Street near Gekeler Lane adjacent to the National Guard armory in the Blue Mountain Conference Center will be grand indeed.
The 2:30 p.m. ceremony will include more than just ribbon cutting. Officials not only from Union County and the City of La Grande but also U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Oregon Army National Guard Brig. Gen. Mike Caldwell are lined up to salute the project. The cast also includes Buzz Fulton, a World War II veteran and a former La Grande mayor, who will lead the pledge of allegiance, and Father Hank Albrecht, a Vietnam veteran, who will deliver the invocation.
The clinic is a gem. Built mostly by Union County contractors, it is designed to serve Northeast Oregon veterans. Previously, those enrolled in the VA system had to travel to the Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial VA Medical Center in Walla Walla for care, often through a gauntlet of snow and ice over the Blue Mountains, a trip not exactly conducive to good health.
Our veterans, who fought in wars and contributed to lasting values we cherish like liberty and justice, deserve the improvement in service the clinic will provide. Besides, much money will be saved in travel expenses, and with gas prices shooting through the roof, that becomes more important each day.
According to the VA, about 14,000 veterans live in the La Grande clinic’s primary service area, which includes Morrow, Umatilla, Union and Wallowa counties. The clinic, which opened May 28, will serve about 2,000 vets from the region in its first year of operation. Clinic services will include primary health care, mental health, social services, laboratory and pharmacy, but not emergency care.
The project does more than just provide health care for veterans. It also should eventually creates 10 full-time, year-round jobs.
The beautifully designed clinic adds to La Grande’s overall attractiveness and is a good investment in the community. The clinic adds to our sense of pride in what our town has to offer. To all those who envisioned the clinic, planned it, built it, will work there or get service there, here’s a salute.
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Opinion 
