Larger VA clinic coming to Las Cruces

Veterans will soon be receiving treatment from a new VA clinic nearly double the size of the current clinic in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Friday, the El Paso VA Health Care System hosted a ground breaking ceremony for the future clinic on the 3400 block of Del Rey Boulevard.

“What a great day to be a veteran in Las Cruces,” Director of VA Services Michael Amaral said. “This is huge. If you have been to the Las Cruces clinic it’s an older building and it’s kind of in a strip mall.”

The proposed clinic will provide primary care and mental health services, including some tele-health services – described as “skyping with a doctor.”

The lease will consist of 12,500 square foot of clinic space, an increase from the current 6,500 square foot clinic located on the 1600 block of Don Roser.

The expansion comes at a time where more service is needed, “Our population grows and so do we, so we can meet those needs,” Amaral said.

Veterans at the ground breaking ceremony said they are anxiously awaiting the completion of the clinic. “This has been a long time coming and a lot of veterans have been looking forward to it,” one veteran said.

“It will help all veterans around here and there will be more room,” Veteran Ray Rivera said.

Las Cruces VA Nurse Manager Crystal Davis-White says the increase in space will help her staff better take care of patients. “We will be able to provide quicker care and more care to our veterans in our local community,” Davis-White said.

Although the director is pleased with the new clinic, his main concern is patient care. “It doesn’t necessarily matter what building you’re doing it out of,” Amaral said, “it’s doing great care and treating the patients well.”

The clinic is expected to be fully operational by December 1, 2017.