Warren County officials are contacting federal representatives and organizing a town hall meeting, trying to prevent the closure of the McMinnville VA Clinic.
Warren County Executive Terry Bell called the decision a total surprise. Bell said he learned about the impending closure after employees received the news and it spread throughout the community. The county serves as the landlord for the facility at the Three Star Mall, but local leaders were not officially contacted before the decision was made.
“And of course these are all federal issues, but still that doesn’t matter, we want to do all we can to help try to keep a clinic here for our veterans because it’s going to be really tough on them,” Bell said. “A lot of them are going to have to either travel to Cookeville or to Manchester, or Tullahoma right now.”
Bell said Valor Healthcare operates as a third-party contractor providing services for veterans under Tennessee Valley Health. The contractor canceled its agreement effective May 31, Bell said.
Meantime, County officials have reached to Marsha Blackburn, Scott DesJarlais, Bill Hagerty, and John Rose to ask for help in keeping a local clinic. But Bell said he did not see a chance to reverse the current decision.
“I don’t think there’s any chance of walking this back,” Bell said. “I mean we’re, that’s what we asked to happen, and the county’s even stepped in and offered to do anything they could to make that happen.”
Tennessee Valley Health has proposed busing veterans to appointments in Cookeville or Manchester.
“And can you imagine getting ten people to have appointments and them having to go and sit in either Cookeville or Manchester until everybody completes their appointments and then take them back home?” Bell said. “That, that’s just not acceptable for our veterans.”
The county has offered to assist in any way possible to reverse the decision, but the current contracting structure makes it difficult. Local leaders are now hoping the Department of Veterans Affairs will open a clinic directly or establish a new contract to maintain local care.
“As a matter of fact there will be a town hall meeting here at 201 Locust Street for veterans, Friday night,” Bell said. “The doors open at 5:30 and it starts at 6:00 and they’re supposed to explain a little more because all the elected officials that I’ve been in contact with out of Washington are really frustrated because they’re not getting a lot of answers about exactly what, what the plan is to take care of our veterans.”
The town hall meeting will provide veterans an opportunity to hear directly from officials regarding the future of their healthcare access.