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thedrifter
03-03-09, 06:07 AM
Veterans get a clinic of their own
New Oxnard center provides primary, mental health care

By Tom Kisken
Tuesday, March 3, 2009

As patients filed into a new VA clinic that opened Monday in Oxnard, James McDuffy scoped out the walls.

Some of them are made of glass, allowing McDuffy to sit in the waiting room and gaze down hallways deeper into the clinic. That’s important because he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder dating back to his 16 months with the Marines in the Vietnam War.

“I like the openness,” the Camarillo man said. “It feels safe. ... I don’t feel closed in or blocked.”

The primary care and mental health clinic opened in a corner of The Palms shopping center off Highway 101. It’s operated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in partnership with Valor Healthcare, which manages 15 similar facilities across the nation.

The VA announced in December that Valor, of Washington, D.C., had been awarded a five-year contract to provide veteran services in Ventura County. Community Memorial Health Systems, which also operates hospitals in Ventura and Ojai, had previously delivered care for veterans through a system of four clinics in different locations across the county.

The new clinic offers primary care services, women’s health services, lab work, X-rays and other imaging under one roof, said Ralph Tillman, director of asset management for the VA’s Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System.

The new facility serves only veterans, while the old system saw all kinds of patients. Community Memorial officials said they were told the co-mingling of patients at three of the four clinics was the primary reason they weren’t considered for a new VA contract.

“This clinic as it opens today is 100 percent for the exclusive care of veterans. That’s very important to us,” Tillman told a group of veterans on Monday, later noting that many factors were considered in awarding the new contract.

A grand opening will be held April 7. A ceremony on Monday included speeches from dignitaries, informal tours and a color guard that raised the American flag and a second banner honoring prisoners of war.

The glass partitions that border the waiting room are designed to create a sense of openness for veterans, said Ray Lanier, an Army and Navy veteran who is president of Valor. But the privacy of patients is also protected with soundproof check-in rooms where a patient can explain his or her issues without anyone overhearing.

Clinic providers include a psychiatrist and a psychologist who are part of a mental health team that offers individual counseling and group sessions. Lanier said if people aren’t sure they want to sign up for counseling, they should still view the clinic as a place they can talk to other vets who understand what they’re feeling.

“Veterans can come and have a cup of coffee and it’s a safe haven,” he said.

The clinic’s imaging systems are connected with the West Los Angeles Healthcare Center operated by the VA, meaning radiologists there can offer almost immediate interpretations of X-rays or electrocardiograms.

The clinic was filled with veterans Monday, with so many people in a corridor waiting for lab work that staff members offered apologies. Several of the veterans said they were impressed with what they saw.

“This is fantastic and I still have my doctor. I was worried stiff,” said James Mason, 79, of Thousand Oaks. He was referring to Dr. Ilona Sylvester, who provided care at the Community Memorial clinics and has transferred to the new facility.

The new clinic is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at 2000 Outlet Center Drive, Suite 225, Oxnard. For information, call 604-6960.

Ellie