Grand Hard-Hat Tour: Harlingen officials visit future site of veterans outpatient clinic

HARLINGEN — City officials Tuesday toured the site where a 34,000-square-foot veterans outpatient clinic will be located this fall.

Mayor Chris Boswell joined Dr. Leonel Vela, dean of the Regional Academic Health Center, city commissioners and other community leaders during a “Special Partners in Progress” meeting to discuss the progress of the Teaching and Learning Facility, where the clinic will be located.

The $26 million Teaching and Learning Facility will be the newest addition to the RAHC, Vela said. It will total about 80,000 square feet, with the first floor dedicated to the veterans clinic and a second floor for medical research, Vela added.

Hilario Alva, Jr., of the South Texas Veterans Health Care System and administrative officer for the Harlingen Veterans Outpatient Clinic, led the group on a hard-hat tour of the partially finished veterans clinic.

Alva said the clinic will be staffed with about 70 health care professionals to accommodate 400 to 500 patients per day.

The clinic, Alva said, will be divided into three sections: special care, primary care and mental health.

It will provide veterans access to dental care, radiology, prosthetics, optometry, ophthalmology, podiatry, audiology, minor surgical procedures, physical therapy and colonoscopies, Alva said. There will also be a laboratory and a pharmacy.

A Texas Veterans Commission counselor will also be on site to assist veterans in filing claims, he added.

The clinic will mainly serve veterans from Starr, Willacy, Hidalgo and Cameron counties as well as some from the Coastal Bend area near Corpus Christi, Alva said.

Alva said he hopes the clinic will be a customer service-based facility from improving waiting time to more personalized attention to the patient.

Boswell said during the tour that the facility was simply great.

“It’s so neat to have such a state-of-the-art facility right here in Harlingen, Texas,” Boswell said.

City Commissioner Larry Galbreath said he was excited about the Teaching and Learning Facility but especially about the veterans clinic.

“I think the clinic will be a real complement to a (possible) future hospital. It would be an asset,” Galbreath said. “What’s more important is that veterans can get medical help now. This is a tremendous start and a perfect avenue.”

Galbreath said the clinic was so big that it is almost like a small hospital.

Alva said that the lease for the veterans clinic at the RAHC will be long-term, but said he was not sure on the exact number of years of the lease.

The Teaching and Learning Facility and the clinic are expected to be finished by late September or early October.