New healthcare clinic for veterans opening in Idaho Falls this summer
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IDAHO FALLS – For more than 20 years, veterans throughout eastern Idaho have benefitted from the services offered at the Vet Center in Pocatello.
An additional location is under construction at 1000 River Walk Drive in Idaho Falls. Veteran Outreach Specialist Cody De Los Reyes tells EastIdahoNews.com the clinic is slated for completion next summer.
“We’ve already got the lease on the building in Idaho Falls. It’s almost under construction,” De Los Reyes says.
The 3,000-square-foot space will be on the third floor of the Joseph A. Clark building and will be double the size of the Pocatello location. De Los Reyes says it will also be equipped with larger rooms and better technology.
“The location is right on the river. It’s got a running path, a bike path. We’re hoping to do some additional groups just because of the activities that are available right around the center,” he says.
A grand opening celebration will feature tours of the building once construction is complete.
The Vet Center offers a wide variety of social and psychological counseling services for veterans, including confidential readjustment counseling, outreach, and referrals for active-duty members and National Guard reserves. Individual, group, marriage and family counseling are available.
“This is a great opportunity for them, their families and the community to help our nation’s heroes deal with the scars of war and military service, including military sexual trauma,” De Los Reyes says in a news release.
TeleHealth services will also be available.
Many of the employees at the center are veterans themselves and can relate to the struggles these men and women deal with. They are trained to help them discuss the tragedies of war, loss and grief, and help them transition back into society after trauma.
The Vet Center is funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs, which means all the services are available to qualifying veterans for free. The VA also operates a mobile veterans clinic that travels all over the state. It made a stop in Idaho Falls this summer.
RELATED | Mobile vet center coming to Idaho Falls next week to help vets and their families
The center has operated out of a temporary office in Idaho Falls for the past several years. It currently serves veterans three days a week in the Center for Hope building at the Idaho Department of Labor on Lincoln Road.
The Pocatello location first opened at 1800 Garrett Way in 1998. De Los Reyes says an upgrade has been in the works for several years.
“We’ve just outgrown it, outdated it. It’s an old building that we’ve been looking to upgrade and expand to a newer building, and that’s what the VA got us. It just happens to be in Idaho Falls instead of Pocatello,” he says.
The Pocatello clinic will continue to operate once the Idaho Falls location opens.
De Los Reyes says he’s excited about this new location and is looking forward to better serving veterans in eastern Idaho.
“It’s a good thing for southeast Idaho,” he says. “Our coverage area goes up to Salmon all the way Jackson Hole, down to Utah and almost over to Twin Falls, so the Idaho Falls store helps us get more centrally-located for our area.”
For questions or more information, call the clinic at (208) 232-0316. You can also visit the Veterans Affairs website.