PARKERSBURG - Supporting veterans at home and making sure they have access to health care is just as important as having supported them during their active duty, officials said Wednesday at the dedication of the expanded Wood County Veterans Clinic in Parkersburg.

More than 50 people attended the dedication at 2311 Ohio Ave. near the Memorial Bridge, many of whom wore something that indicated their military service. U.S. Rep. Alan Mollohan, D-W.Va., and U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., spoke to the crowd.

 

Rockefeller, who serves on the Senate's Veterans Affairs Committee, has promoted a network of clinics across the state that provides primary and preventative care closer to veterans' homes.

 

''Ten years ago we worked together in Congress to turn the VA health system into a primary care model,'' he said. ''Since then veterans clinics have flourished across West Virginia, bringing basic and preventative care closer to our veterans. You have to take the care out to the veterans to make them feel comfortable with the process.

 

''VA healthcare is still some of the best care in the nation and that is why I pushed for a change in the law to make it more accessible. This year, Congress passed a law allowing West Virginia's returning active duty military, National Guard and Reservists an additional three years to apply for VA medical care.''

 

The purpose of these clinics are to improve access to veterans, said William Cox, director of the Louis A. Johnson VA Healthcare System.

 

''Here in Wood County and the surrounding counties this clinic is serving around 3,000 veterans and is growing,'' he said. ''It is first class and our veterans deserve that kind of health care facility.''

 

The clinic offers primary care services, lab work and other services. In the coming months, the clinic will have X-ray and radiology services.

 

Access to these types of services is important, said Michael Morehead, director of the VA Healthcare Network, VISN 4.

 

''I want people to know that 99 percent of every veteran who wants an appointment gets it within 30 days of their desired date,'' he said. ''That is phenomenal success.

 

''We are not going to be happy until we get 100 percent.''

 

Morehead would match the quality of care with anyone in the private sector, saying VA was better in some cases.

 

Some veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan do not know they can go to the VA for help and services.

 

''Those who are coming, we are receiving them with open arms,'' Morehead said. The VA has been involved in a program where representatives call recently returned veterans to tell them these services are available.

 

Those gathered at the clinic were the core of veteran support in this country - families, fellow veterans and community members, Mollohan said. He said federal lawmakers have provided more money for veterans services.

 

Before the original clinic opened a few years ago, many area veterans traveled to Clarksburg to receive VA services. Local veterans said that was a tremendous commitment of time and money on their part to do that.

 

The clinic in Parkersburg cuts down on travel expenses and gives veterans a place to go locally for assistance, said Bill Sutton, commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1212 of Parkersburg.