A site has finally been picked for the long-awaited VA clinic in Tomball, as officials announced on Oct. 6 that the old Klein’s Supermarket on Main Street will be home to the 30,000 square-foot facility.

A 20-year lease commitment was signed in September for the site of the landmark grocery store.

“We are very pleased,” Houston VA Associate Director Francisco Vazquez said. “In the end we have the clinic in the right place for veterans in the Tomball area.”

Congressman Michael McCaul says he has been working on this deal for several years and despite delays and frustrations, he says it is a win-win situation for area veterans.

“This is an exciting day for the thousands of veterans who for years have been looking forward to the convenience of going to the doctor in their own community,” McCaul said.

The delay had frustrated many area veterans for years. Now that it is coming to fruition, that frustration is fading.

“I think that it’s fantastic,” said Bill Shaffer, Commander of VFW Post 2427, in Tomball. “You just have to wait your turn I guess and we finally came up.”

“The need for a clinic has been known for several years,” Vasquez said. “(The VA) had to go through several steps given the proposed size and everything had to go through the central office, which takes time.”

Shaffer said this will be a tremendous boost to several of the VFW’s 600 members

“We have a number of World War II vets who have a hard time getting to the clinic downtown,” he said.

Vazquez said it will take about a year to remodel and upgrade the site on Main Street and they hope to be open for business sometime in the late fall of 2012.

“This will enable us to give a commitment to better and more efficient care for our nation’s heroes,” Vazquez said.

The facility will open with about 45 staff members, with plans to expand to around 60.

The new clinic will provide primary care, mental health, women’s specialty care, teleretinal imaging, optometry and audiology services. It will also have full laboratory services as well as a pharmacy on-site.

For the approximately 46,000 veterans in the Tomball area the site will be able to accommodate about 65,000 annual patient visits

“Thousand of veterans in northwest Harris County can start plotting a much shorter drive to see their doctor instead of driving all the way to the medical center in Houston,” McCaul added.

“They fought for our freedom and the least we can do is provide them care close to home.”

Photo by Caleb Harris

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