McMinn County has been selected as one of three Tennessee counties to have a VA clinic. The others are Giles and Maury. The exact location in the county has not yet been selected.

Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. James B. Peake announced plans last week to create 44 new community-based outpatient clinics to bring the world-class health care of the Department of Veterans Affairs closer to home for veterans in 21 states.

"VA continues to make access to care easier through an expanding outpatient system focused not only on primary treatment but also prevention of disease, early detection, and health promotion," Peake said.

The new clinics, scheduled to be activated over the next 15 months, will increase VA's network of independent and community-based clinics to 782, an increase of more than 100 in five years.

In addition to on-site primary care staff, today's modern outpatient clinics frequently feature state-of-the-art telehealth systems permitting veterans to maintain regular contact with doctors in specialties from cardiac care to mental health at regional VA hospitals linked for video consultations, coupled with telemetry of health data or images. A national health records system allows practitioners at even remote clinics to review patient records stored at VA facilities anywhere in the country.

VA's 21 regional networks develop applications for new clinics in consideration of reducing the distance veterans travel to their nearest VA hospital or clinic, as well as local demand, existing hospital, clinic workload and other factors. McMinn county officials have been working for years to provide VA services. Currently, Chattanooga is the closest facility.