Veterans Affairs opens new Jacksonville clinic, will care for 42,000 additional vets

A new long-planned U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs outpatient medical center has opened in Jacksonville to provide outpatient services for the area's 130,000 veterans and in-patient care for those who need mental health or substance abuse treatment.

The Jacksonville North VA Clinic is at 145 Heron Bay Road, off Interstate 95 near River City Marketplace and the airport. The 164,000-square-foot outpatient clinic opened April 9 and its adjacent inpatient domiciliary is expected to open April 29. Officials conducted a ribbon cutting and tour Tuesday.

"The opening of this clinic is extremely important for the tens of thousands of veterans now residing in the largest and fastest-growing area in Florida," VA Press Secretary Terrence Hayes, a Jacksonville native and 20-year combat veteran, said.

"As a veteran who receives his care at the VA, I understand how critical this clinic and its providers are to veterans and their health," he said. "This state-of-the-art facility will provide veterans with the comprehensive care they need — when and where they need it. Our hope is that this encourages even more veterans in Jacksonville and the surrounding communities to enroll in VA health care and call this new facility home."

VA Secretary Denis McDonough told a House appropriations committee meeting on April 16 that the new Jacksonville space will be able to handle care for the 42,000 additional vets enrolled for VA care for the next few years. But a Jacksonville-based VA hospital is not yet part of the agency's strategic plan, he told the committee. Currently, the closest VA hospitals are in Gainesville and Lake City.

What does Jacksonville's new VA clinic offer?

The clinic has 101 patient care rooms, including 12 designated for women, and an additional 62 for mental health patient care. It also has a walk-in clinic; imaging for mammograms, ultrasound and bone density, among other tests; and a 2,200-square-foot gym and six patient care rooms for physical therapy, according to the VA.

Other services included audiology, optometry and a virtual health center.

The adjacent domiciliary is a dormitory-like building that will provide inpatient care for veterans who are homeless, need substance abuse treatment and/or have serious mental illness. It will have 30 beds, 19 resident support rooms and 17 patient care rooms, officials said.

Veterans referred there "must be behaviorally appropriate and … not present as a significant risk of harm to self or others," according to the VA. Their average stay will be 90 days.

The VA spent $45 million to furnish and equip the complex, which the agency leases for $7.3 million a year.

Staff at the center view their new space as "absolutely incredible," said Will Mojica, chief of the area health system's Office of Communication and Outreach. "Services we provide are continuously outpaced by the overall growth of the Jacksonville area, and we are very excited to increase the health care we can bring to our veterans with these expansion efforts."

What about other VA facilities in Jacksonville?

The opening of the new complex means the closure of the existing VA clinic at 6900 N. Southpoint Drive. Two other clinics remain open — at 1536 N. Jefferson St. near downtown and at 3901 University Blvd. S. on the Southside. All Jacksonville-area VA facilities are part of the Gainesville-based North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System.

The area Health System plans to meet increasing demand with "direct-care options for veterans," Mojica said. The Jefferson Street facility will be used to expand surgical and medical specialty services and provide primary and mental health care and diagnostics. The University Boulevard location will be used for primary care and mental health services, with an expansion for rehabilitation services, he said.

How are VA wait times?

Also at the Jacksonville center on Tuesday, the area Health System celebrated reduced VA wait times and increased new appointments for veterans. At work is a new VA initiative called Access Sprints that offers night and weekend clinics.

"Local VA facilities and regional networks have spent several months focusing on VA’s ongoing, large-scale strategy to improve access for both new and existing veteran patients," according to the agency. "This included exchanging and implementing innovative ideas developed in the field to increase veterans’ access to VA care in the areas of primary, specialty and mental health care."

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As a result, the VA nationwide saw about 27,000 more new patients from October 2023 to February 2024 compared to the same period last year. Also, 81% of VA medical centers saw more new patients than the same period last year and new patient appointments increased by 11%, among other improvements.

In specialty care, the area Veterans Health System in particular had a 41% decrease in new mental health patients waiting over 20 days for care and a 30% decrease in patients waiting for a mental health appointment. The system also saw a 59% increase in new cardiology appointments and a 56% decrease in patients waiting for a cardiology appointment, according to the VA.

"This 'Sprint' is not over, nor is it a one-and-done project," VA officials said. "VA is dedicated to discovering solutions to keep building on the great work that has already been done and to make the effort sustainable and adaptable for the long term. Expanding access to VA care is critical because VA is proven to be the best, most affordable care for veterans."

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Before and after the ribbon cutting, VA enrollment and eligibility staff were on hand to inform veterans about the health care services available to them. Those services include mental health and suicide prevention, resources for women and LGBTQ+ veterans, disease prevention and toxic exposure screening.

To make an appointment or get more information about the new Jacksonville VA clinic, call (904) 470-6900 or go to va.gov/north-florida-health-care.

bcravey@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4109

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: New VA clinic for veterans opens in Jacksonville