Site picked for VA clinic in Bogalusa

The projected opening has been pushed back about a month, but the location has now been decided and soon local veterans won’t have to travel to New Orleans or Biloxi to reach a Veterans Affairs Clinic.

During a City Council meeting Tuesday, Bogalusa Mayor Mack McGehee announced that the VA selected attorney “Dale Branch’s old office,” at 319 Memphis St. as the site for its Bogalusa outpatient clinic.

The projected opening date is Jan. 18, 2010, he said.

Earlier this year, the VA said the clinic — the only one of its kind in Washington Parish —was expected to open in December.

The VA has contracted with Dr. Ray Lanier to provide services at the new Bogalusa clinic, which will reportedly serve veterans from Washington Parish and nearby parishes and counties.

The clinic will provide comprehensive health care, health promotion, maintenance, routine/urgent care procedures and education. It will also offer access to mental health services, radiology services and specialty care.

Lanier expects to be able to serve 35 patients at a time in the clinic, according to Bogalusa Public Works Director James Hall who said he’s hoping to improve the parking in the area to help the vets get in and out.

“Right now, the parking is a mixture of dirt, concrete and some asphalt,” he said. “I’m going to get prices to try to asphalt the street. And we have a 100-foot right-of-way, so we could asphalt up to everybody’s doors. People with canes, or in wheel chairs need the stability. I don’t know if it’s in the budget, but we’re going to see what we can do.”

Lanier, who is based in Washington, D.C., said he is “excited” about the Bogalusa project, but said protocol dictates that the VA issue additional information.

The VA did not respond this week to repeated requests for that information.