Limited VA services in Eugene mean long drive

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Limited services at the Veterans Affairs medical offices in Eugene means Lane County veterans sometimes have to make the long trip to the VA’s Roseburg Medical Center.

The Register-Guard (http://bit.ly/q61j4O ) says Lane County veterans made 39,389 trips last year in a van or by private car to get health care at Roseburg.

The VA’s medical offices in Eugene provide severely limited services. The outpatient clinic, for example, has no X-ray machine, veterans needing one have to go to Roseburg.

Veterans will get more immediate care if the VA opens a large clinic in the Eugene-Springfield area.

Congress approved the project in 2008, but the opening of the clinic has been delayed until at least 2014.

VA officials say the planned 160,000- square-foot clinic would offer an expanded range of services.

___

Information from: The Register-Guard, http://www.registerguard.com