Science

Atlanta VA Medical Center Expanding And Adding New Clinics

July 15th, 2016

The Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Atlanta is expanding its location near Emory and also at clinics around the metro area. It’s faced criticism in the past for long wait times for services. Officials say the expansion should streamline patient care.

The VA Hospital is adding a new wing for urgent care and another one, where primary care and mental health services will be alongside each other.

Luke Brewster, a vascular surgeon at the VA, said he’s excited about an operating room being built at the hospital with new tools built in.

“Some of the things that are most threatening to veterans include risk of limb-loss, risk of an aneurysm popping, risk of highly, I’d call it endemically dangerous operations, and this technology allows us to provide cutting-edge therapies for these folks,” he said.

The VA is also leasing space to replace or open new clinics in Austell, Cobb County and South Fulton, among others, which it plans to open in 2017.

A larger clinic in Cobb is slated to open in 2020.

“This will be 64,000 square feet of space that will provide mental health services, primary care services, medical specialty services, which includes podiatry, dermatology, as well as tele-health,” said Dr. Robin Jackson, interim director of the Atlanta VA Medical Center. “So we are very excited about that expansion and that lease.”