Expanded CBOC opens in Shenandoah
VA Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System launched a new era in providing medical care to area Veterans when they officially opened a new 9,900 square-foot, $3.5 million community-based outpatient clinic (CBOC) on Monday, April 12, in Shenandoah, Iowa
“I couldn’t be more excited for the community and our Veterans,” said B. Don Burman, director of VA NWIHCS after watching a group of local Iowa Veterans raise the U.S. flag to the top of the VA clinic’s flagpole for the first time, signaling the official opening of the clinic after nearly a year-and-a-half of construction. “It’s a long-awaited, long-deserved outpatient clinic for all of our Veterans in the Shenandoah area.”
“This is the clinic that our area Veterans need and deserve,” Burman added. “And we are extremely pleased to be able to open the doors of this clinic to them and begin providing them with outstanding care.”
The new CBOC is roughly three-times larger than current CBOC and includes both primary care services along with mental health, podiatry, dietitian, and orthotics services for area Veterans enrolled in VA health care. It will also feature increased Veterans telehealth, women’s health, and physical therapy services.
According to Patrick Dawson, VA NWIHCS assistant director who oversaw the construction of the new clinic, the project was the result of approximately four years of planning. He said he believes Veterans will be pleased with their new clinic.
“This clinic was designed with our Veterans’ specific needs in mind,” said Dawson. “For example, the new clinic includes larger examination and treatment rooms. It also includes such things as a state-of-the-art hearing booth, a new physical therapy room and improved staff working areas so that they can better collaborate when providing care to Veterans.”
“We also have a much better fiberoptic footprint here as compared to what we had in the old building, so we are excited to be able to offer much-expanded telehealth services to our Veterans,” Dawson said. He added that by adding technological systems to the clinic that will enable Veterans to connect with medical providers or specialists located in Omaha or other places, it will result in a much better experience for area Veterans. “If we can keep our Veterans from having to travel to Omaha or out into the community to receive care, that will make it much easier for the Veterans to receive the care that they need and have earned.”
Joyce Portz, the nursing manager for the Shenandoah VA CBOC since 2009, said the new medical clinic is something area Veterans and local VA medical staff have been anxiously waiting for years to arrive.
“This is a state-of-the-art clinic. It’s beautiful,” said Portz. She said that the staff worked through “We are extremely excited to move into this new facility and we’re even more excited about all of the new services we’re going to be able to offer.”
“And we think the Veterans we serve are going to like what they find when they visit us here at this new clinic,” she added.
The Shenandoah VA CBOC serves approximately 1,200 enrolled Veterans from Western Iowa, Northwestern Missouri, and Southeastern Nebraska. It is located at 2043 A. Avenue, Shenandoah, Iowa 51601.
Veterans who have never applied for or received medical care through the VA are strongly encouraged to call the VA NWIHCS Eligibility Office at (402) 995-4050. VA NWIHCS enrollment specialists are available to assist Veterans in enrolling for VA health care.
Interested Veterans can also visit https://www.va.gov/health-care/apply/application/introduction or call the VA Health Eligibility Center at 877-222-8387.