Mark the date: Here's when the new VA clinic will open in Daytona Beach

Clayton Park, Daytona Beach News-Journal
Updated ·5 min read

DAYTONA BEACH ― It's official: The new Veterans Affairs multi-specialty clinic at 1776 N. Williamson Blvd. that's been under construction since the $60 million project broke ground in December 2021 will open in early May, a spokeswoman confirmed Wednesday.

"We are tentatively scheduled to see our first patient at the new clinic on May 8," wrote Melanie Thomas, a public affairs officer for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, in an email responding to an inquiry from The Daytona Beach News-Journal. "Our first scheduled patient appointment is slated for May 8th. May 13th will be the first day we resume normal operations."

Here's what we know about the project:

This is the monument sign for the new Veterans Affairs multi-specialty clinic under construction at 1776 N. Williamson Blvd. in Daytona Beach on Oct. 17, 2023. The 131,000-square-foot clinic is set to open May 8, 2024.
This is the monument sign for the new Veterans Affairs multi-specialty clinic under construction at 1776 N. Williamson Blvd. in Daytona Beach on Oct. 17, 2023. The 131,000-square-foot clinic is set to open May 8, 2024.

More than twice the size of existing clinic

At 133,537 square feet, the new VA multi-specialty clinic will be more than twice the size of the existing 62,000-square-foot William V. Chappell VA clinic it will be replacing roughly four miles to the south: a leased facility at 551 National Healthcare Drive (off of Dunn Avenue) in Daytona Beach.

The building on National Healthcare Drive was built in 2001 and renovated in 2018.

It has the potential to become even bigger

The new VA campus will also have plenty of room to expand, should it be needed in the future.

That's because the new VA clinic and parking lot only occupy roughly 26 of the 78 acres that developer Carnegie Management & Development Corp. bought from Volusia County Schools for $4.48 million in March 2021.

The land, which was mostly wooded at the time, was purchased by Carnegie under the name "Daytona Beach VA Company LLC," according to property records.

"We always try to build into our projects the flexibility to be able to expand should the demand be warranted," said Rustom Khouri III, a vice president and the director of development services for Westlake, Ohio-based Carnegie, in a phone interview on Wednesday.

Carnegie has developed several VA facilities across the country.

Congress unanimously approved more than $12.1 million in federal funding to improve VA facilities in Daytona Beach in 2017.

This is a close-up of the new Veterans Affairs multi-specialty clinic under construction at 1776 N. Williamson Blvd. in Daytona Beach on Oct. 17, 2023. The 131,000-square-foot clinic is set to open May 8, 2024.
This is a close-up of the new Veterans Affairs multi-specialty clinic under construction at 1776 N. Williamson Blvd. in Daytona Beach on Oct. 17, 2023. The 131,000-square-foot clinic is set to open May 8, 2024.

What services will the new VA clinic offer?

The new VA facility will offer the following services and operational support: cardiology, optometry, audiology, gastroenterology, neurology, endoscopy, wound care, sleep, recreation therapy, interventional pain management, acupuncture, surgery services (for podiatry, orthotics, urology, gynecology, and vascular), vascular lab work, chiropractic, physical therapy, complex patient aligned care team (PACT) services, dermatology, telehealth, patient advocacy, chaplain services, primary care, mental health, social work, homeless services, sterile processing, and warehousing.

Will it create more jobs?

Joseph Nunez, a public affairs specialist for the Orlando VA Healthcare System, told The News-Journal in an interview late last year that the new clinic was expected to employ at least 400 people.

Currently, the William V. Chappell VA multi-specialty clinic across town employs 326 workers, said Thomas on Thursday. "We are still in the process of hiring for the new facility," she wrote in an email. "We will be adding additional specialty services once staff are hired. At this time, all services currently offered at 551 National Healthcare Drive location will transition to the new facility as well as the Homeless Program."

This is a rendering of the new Veterans Affairs multi-specialty clinic under construction at 1776 N. Williamson Blvd. in Daytona Beach. The 131,000-square-foot clinic is set to open May 8, 2024.
This is a rendering of the new Veterans Affairs multi-specialty clinic under construction at 1776 N. Williamson Blvd. in Daytona Beach. The 131,000-square-foot clinic is set to open May 8, 2024.

What will become of the VA's existing facilities?

The William V. Chappell VA multi-specialty clinic will close when the new VA facility opens on Williamson.

"Once services begin in the new facility, patient care will no longer be provided at the 551 National Healthcare Drive location," wrote Thomas. "We are unaware of the future plans for the current facility, as it is a leased property."

The Daytona Beach Veterans Center for mental health services at 1620 Mason Ave. will remain open.

The Daytona Beach Vet Center is not operated by the VA Orlando Healthcare System, but rather by an organization called Readjustment Counseling Service, Thomas wrote.

The VA also has a clinic in West Volusia County that's just over 10,000 square feet in size at 1200 Deltona Blvd. in Deltona. "The Deltona CBOC (Community Based Outpatient Clinic) will remain open," Thomas wrote.

The new VA clinic on Williamson will include a surface parking lot with 750 spaces for vehicles as well as a flag pavilion.

Daytona has one of the VA's highest workloads

In fiscal year 2023, which ended Sept. 30, the existing Daytona Beach VA clinic helped 26,686 veterans. The VA clinic in Deltona saw 6,058 veterans, according to Thomas. Those figures do not include repeat visits.

Daytona Beach's current clinic ranks 34th highest in the nation in number of veterans it services and 21st highest in number of outpatient visits each year, Thomas added in explaining the need for the new bigger VA facility on Williamson.

How many veterans live in Volusia County?

According to the most recent U.S. Census Bureau statistics, Volusia County is home to 49,434 veterans.

"The new Daytona Beach VA Multispecialty Clinic will serve any eligible veteran seeking services," said Thomas in an interview late last year.

The new clinic is in a fast-growing area

The new VA clinic on Williamson is directly south of Daytona State College's Advanced Technology College.

It's also in the heart of Daytona Beach's fast-growing LPGA Boulevard area. That corridor has been called "Boomtown Boulevard" because of the all the new homes, luxury apartments and shopping centers that have have sprung up there in recent years on both sides of Interstate 95.

Since the opening of Tanger Outlets mall in 2016, the LPGA area has seen the addition of the Latitude Margaritaville 55-and-older community, ICI Homes' Mosaic full-life community, hundreds more homes at LPGA International, more new retail centers including Tomoka Town Center, Latitude Landings and Shoppes at Williamson Crossing, and new luxury apartments both along LPGA Boulevard as well as on Williamson and Clyde Morris boulevards.

And that's not counting the new 341-unit Atlantica at Daytona "garden-style" apartment complex under construction across the street from the future VA clinic at 1799 N. Williamson Blvd.

What hours will the new facility be open?

The new VA multi-specialty clinic on Williamson will have the same hours of operation as the current Daytona Beach location: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Veterans Affairs sets opening date for new VA clinic in Daytona