MEMBERS OF VETERANS groups will gather at 4:30 p.m. Feb. 27 to prepare to pressure politicians for a Veterans Administration health-care facility on the North Olympic Peninsula.
The meeting will take place in the Clallam County Veterans Center, 261 S. Francis St., Port Angeles.
Currently, veterans who need treatment and are eligible for VA care must travel sometimes as far as Seattle. The VA clinic in Bremerton has closed its doors to new patients.
An VA facility staffed by VA employees — known as a community-based outpatient clinic — might take three to four years to work its way through the federal bureaucracy, according to Olympic Medical Center CEO Mike Glenn.
The Port Angeles hospital, therefore, has proposed a “virtual”‘ VA facility staffed with local medical professionals.
The proposal has the support of Sen. Patty Murray, D-Shoreline, but still needs pressure on federal officials.
Hospital commissioner Jim Leskinovitch, a retired Coast Guard officer, is heading the effort. People interested in joining it may call him at 360-417-0255.
