New, larger VA clinic on track to open in April
By AUDREY PARENTE
Staff Writer
ORANGE CITY -- While an Orlando Veterans Affairs hospital is still in the planning stage, a second Veterans Outpatient Clinic for Volusia County is on the fast track, set to open in April.
The existing Daytona Beach VA clinic will continue to assist veterans, but another 6,000-square-foot clinic is nearly completed at the rear of the Tiffany Centre on U.S. 17-92.
When the new facility opens, a clinic in Sanford will close.
Dr. Martin S. Schnier, chief medical officer of the Orlando VA Medical Center, told a dozen veterans about the new facility on Wednesday, the first public acknowledgement of the clinic.
"It will be wonderful to move out of our incredibly cramped clinic in Sanford," Schnier said. "We will be expanding from three to five doctors and have a full-time psychiatrist, social worker, psychologist and pharmacist.
"We will not have a pharmacy but a lab. We will do enrollment and patient orientation on site."
The new facility will double the capacity to serve veterans, he said, but it also can help those currently traveling far for care.
"My goal is not to raid Orlando and Daytona, but if you want to transfer, you can," Schnier said. "You don't have to wait for us to move to begin enrolling 2,500 more veterans in the (new) clinic."
Barry Stanley, spokesman for the Orlando VA, said in a phone interview the reason for the change is based on higher numbers of veterans in Volusia County -- nearly 70,000 -- than in the Sanford area -- 3,000.
Changes also tie Volusia County to the future VA hospital instead of to the Gainesville VA hospital.
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