Aside from the medical center in White River Junction, Vermont's veterans will have its fifth outpatient care facility accessible to them at the end of the month, eliminating an hour's drive for more than 1,000 veterans living in southern Vermont.

The grand opening of Brattleboro facility is scheduled for June 26 at 1 p.m., but the facility is already taking appointments to see veterans now, said Elizabeth Acheson, chief of voluntary service for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in White River Junction. The Brattleboro facility will provide primary care and mental health services.  Senator Bernie Sanders, who worked hard to open the clinic, plans to attend the grand opening.

"Working with Vermont veterans from around the state, we are making progress in expanding the number of clinics," Sanders said. The senator is also pushing to open a Community Based Outpatient Clinic, or CBOC, in Newport to serve veterans in the Northeast Kingdom.

CBOCs currently exist in Bennington, Colchester, Rutland and Littleton, N.H.

"The White River Junction VA is extremely pleased to be able to serve the veterans in the Brattleboro area. It's something that we looked forward to for the last two years," said Andrew LaCasse, spokesman for the White River VA.

"Once eligibility level has been determined, basic services are available free of charge and, in certain circumstances, with a nominal surcharge," he said.  Lacasse said the VA is expecting 1,000 to 1,500 veterans to use the Brattleboro clinic.

Vermont's soldiers are amid the largest deployment since World War II. Roughly 1,500 Vermonters have been deployed to Afghanistan.  "We must ensure our veterans have access to convenient, quality health care when they return to Vermont," Sanders said.

The Colchester facility is the busiest of the state's outpatient facilities.  Last fiscal year, the site had 17,761 patient visits, according to the VA. The strains on Vermont's soldiers deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan have compelled the Colchester site to quadruple the mental health staff at the site in recent years, said Cindy Ash, the manager of the facility.

"We are the biggest CBOC," she said. "And we offer the most services." The Chittenden County site offers primary care and mental health as well as providing medical services for audiology, cardiology, optometry. Ash estimates that the Colchester clinic treats roughly 4,000 different people.

In addition, to primary care and mental health, the Bennington clinic, which was upgraded last year, had 10,850 visits last year and also provides x-rays, lab tests and electrocardiograms. The Rutland facility, which provides similar services, logged 4,624 visits.

The senator has also secured a $2.4 million federal grant for an innovative health outreach program that reaches out to Guard members in their communities as well as $1.6 million to assist Guard families with childcare expenses. "We must remember that it is not only the soldier who is sacrificing, it is their family - including the kids," Sanders said.

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