Health annex to serve veterans

By ADAM SMELTZ • Courier-Post Staff • December 9, 2008

CAMDEN — A new veterans medical center is scheduled to open early next year and offer a primary health care venue that could serve as many as 2,000 to 3,000 veterans in its first year.

The center, designated an outpatient annex, will serve as a branch of the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center, VA and local leaders announced Monday. The facility will occupy nearly 5,300 square feet near Broadway and Benson Street, on the ground floor of a new parking garage.

Planned and operated with backing from the adjacent Cooper University Hospital and the county government, the annex should provide easy access to primary care for thousands of military veterans in South Jersey, officials said.

Camden County alone has at least 39,000 resident veterans. Some of them said they now must travel to Philadelphia or Fort Dix for their routine care.

"There's such a need for clinical services in South Jersey," said George Kuhn, of Bellmawr, a Navy veteran who served in Vietnam.

For aging veterans, he said, the trip to Philadelphia can be taxing.

The effort to secure a veterans health facility in the Camden area has been going on for years.

Hopes for a health center here began to reach fruition a couple months ago, when representatives from the county, Cooper and the Philadelphia VA center began discussing feasibility, said county Clerk Jim Beach. Earlier in the year, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs started allowing such health annexes to take shape within five miles of already-established hospitals.

The annex here will probably employ about 10 people once it's operating, said Richard S. Citron, medical center director at the Philadelphia VA Hospital. He said veterans will be able to schedule routine appointments, such as for checkups and mental health services, at the Camden annex.

Patients who need more specialized care will be referred to Philadelphia, Citron said.

As for an opening date, organizers have yet to decide. Citron said VA leaders hope to formalize a lease for Broadway space, near the Walter Rand Transportation Center, within a couple weeks.

Work to prepare the area for occupancy should take three to four months more.

George E. Norcross III, the Cooper board chairman, said veterans arriving there will receive "VIP" treatment, including free parking.

"My family exists today in the manner in which it exists because of the men and women who served our country," he said.

Reach Adam Smeltz at (856) 486-2919 or asmeltz@gannett.com