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County Times: Hoyer wants answer on vets clinic

August 11, 2016
Blog Post

County Times

By Guy Leonard

Congressman Steny Hoyer (D-Md-5th) stated this week that the effort to build a new community-based outpatient clinic (CBOC) for veterans in Southern Maryland is taking too long and has demanded a timeline for its construction and completion.

"I helped secure funding for a new facility that was originally slated to be operational in 2013," Hoyer wrote in a missive to Robert McDonald, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. "However, this project continually has been delayed by the VA since its inception."

"The current facility that serves hundreds of veterans does not adequately meet the needs of the community."

The CBOC that is currently serving veterans is located at the Charlotte Hall Veterans Home in Charlotte Hall and has been deemed inadequate even by the officials who run it.

Information about the VA plans to build a new CBOC have been at best slow in coming.

Earlier this year the VA released a notice to certain property owners in the Charlotte Hall area that there were four sites that met the criteria for a new location for a CBOC but the VA made clear in the notice that they were not committed to purchasing any of those four sites.

"In addition, VA briefings to the Tri-County Council Veterans Regional Advisory Committee on the progress of the CBOC have been inconsistent and frustrating," Hoyer continued in his letter to McDonald.

According to the VA documents issued to property owners locally, the CBOC is proposed to be 17,741 square-feet in footprint size; the VA documents stated that they may consider other sites that they find appropriate.

The four preliminary selections are the result of a market survey the VA conducted in May of last year, documents showed.

The first property is located near the intersection of Three Notch Road and Charlotte Hall Road. It's just under 22 acres in size with 11 acres available for development, the second is located on Charlotte Hall Road and is 5.6 acres in size.

The third site is located on Three Notch Road in Charlotte Hall about one-quarter mile off of the main road and is just over three acres in size.

The final site is also located on Three Notch Road and is 7.8 acres in size; it's part of a 57.5-acre site that is set for development for the Charlotte Hall Commerce Center, according to VA documents.

Issues:Health Care & SeniorsNational Security & Veterans