Dover VA Clinic finds new home after sudden closure
Jimmy Settle- The Dover VA Clinic is moving to a building on Donelson Parkway near LBL.
- Both the Dover and Stewart County mayors say the crisis comes with a positive ending.
- U.S. Rep. Mark Green wants answers about closure of old Dover VA Clinic site.
There is light at the end of the recent tunnel of uncertainty about the future of the Dover Veterans Affairs clinic.
The former Tri-County medical clinic on Donelson Parkway in Dover — situated near the southern entrance way to Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area — has been tapped as a new location for the Dover VA clinic, Stewart County Mayor Robin Brandon confirmed.
That building is going to be rented to the new occupants by current owner Neal Mathis, Brandon said.
"The Sterling Medical Group has signed a contract for a lease with (Mathis), on the old Tri-County building," he said. "The year lease includes an option to buy it, and Sterling will take possession of the building on Nov. 1."
Brandon and Dover Mayor Lesa Fitzhugh both say it's a positive development for a Dover VA Clinic that recently found itself in limbo after the sudden, unexpected closure of its previous location in Stewart County.
Both mayors were quick this week to credit the entire federal and state legislative delegation representing Stewart County, for the reversal of fortunes in the Dover VA Clinic, specifically citing 7th District U.S. Rep. Mark Green. Fitzhugh also thanked 22nd District state Sen. Bill Powers and 75th District state Rep. Bruce Griffey for what she called their "great support and cooperation."
Brandon indicated that the clinic's pending move within Dover is something that's actually been in development for months.
"Getting the VA Clinic moved to a better facility in a stronger economic zone in Dover was a labor of love that took several months to accomplish and could not have been done without the help of Stewart County Vietnam veteran Neal Mathis and Congressman Mark Green," Brandon said.
"Mr. Mathis called me eight months ago, after I received some disturbing news about the old VA location, with a plan to purchase this newer building specifically to offer it as a better facility to serve our veterans.
"Separately," Brandon said, "I contacted Congressman Green and shared the plan with him and he worked tirelessly with the (VA) to make this happen."
The VA Clinic was placed in Dover to "better serve not only the soldiers at Fort Campbell, but all service members across the region," said Brandon.
"We serve veterans at our facility from Dickson to west Tennessee and now, with this new facility, it will only get better," he said.
Asked for his take on the new clinic location in Dover, Green told The Leaf-Chronicle, "It's going to be a night-and-day difference for the better, over the old location."
Green puts heat on VA
In the meantime, from Washington, D.C., Green has been pressuring VA Secretary Robert Wilkie in writing, requesting answers on the Dover clinic’s Sept. 15 closure and urging action to ensure that the area's veterans "receive the honor and care of a grateful nation."
In Green's letter of Oct. 4 to Wilkie, he wrote, "The VA Clinic in Dover has been closed for more than two weeks now due to unspecified 'administrative issues' with no indication of when — or if — it will reopen.
"This clinic provides crucial healthcare services to Tennessee veterans, especially those who live in rural communities far from major hospitals in the state. I would like to know more about the specific issues that led to the closure of this facility, which is the only VA clinic within a 35-mile radius of Dover," Green wrote.
In the interim, while the Dover area is without a VA Clinic, the VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System is redirecting veterans to nearby clinics in Clarksville and contacting veterans who had appointments for rescheduling.
Veterans with appointment-related questions can call Larry Johnson at the TVHS Clarksville VA Clinic at 931-645-3552, ext. 64341. Veterans with non-appointment related questions can email TVHPublicAffairs@va.gov.
The VA MISSION Act of 2018 allows eligible veterans to be seen at a non-VA urgent care provider in VA’s network at VA expense.
The VA-approved urgent care providers nearest the TVHS Dover VA clinic include:
►Crossroads Urgent Care, 1690 Fort Campbell Blvd., Clarksville, 931-648-4838.
►Crossroads Urgent Care, 1466 Tiny Town Road Suite C, Clarksville, 931-503-7093.
►AFC Physicians of Tennessee, 1763 Madison St., Clarksville, 931-278-8000.
►Crossroads Urgent Care, 2147 Wilma Rudolph Blvd., Suite 102, Clarksville, 931-241-4115.
►Fast Pace Urgent Care, 506 N. 12th St., Suite A, Murray, Ky., 270-873-2022.
For more on the Mission Act, go https://missionact.va.gov.
Reach Jimmy Settle at jimmysettle@theleafchronicle.com or 931-245-0247. To support his work, sign up for a digital subscription to TheLeafChronicle.com.