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VA, DOD to build consolidated health clinic
By Shelia Watson
Contributing Writer
The Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southeast has awarded a $41.5 million military construction project to GSC Construction Company Inc. of Augusta, Ga., to build a 188,000-square-foot consolidated medical clinic at the Naval Weapons Station in Goose Creek.
The new facility will replace both the existing Naval Health Clinic Charleston at its Rivers Avenue location and the Navy’s branch medical clinics in Goose Creek, and will be co-located with the VA outpatient clinic at the Naval Weapons Station.
The Naval Health Clinic Charleston changed its name from Naval Hospital Charleston to reflect its current scope of services after recent downsizing. Constructed in the early 1970s as a 500-bed facility, the hospital no longer provides in-patient care to the area’s military population. The Naval Facilities Engineering office said in a statement that the structure would be costly to reconfigure to the type of care currently needed in the Charleston area.
The consolidated medical clinic represents a continuing partnership between the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs as they assess their joint needs and meet the requirements of active-duty, retiree and veteran communities in the area.
“We are excited to continue the transition to the new Naval Health Clinic by consolidating our own services into a modern, two-story ambulatory clinic and share our facility, as well as some services, with the Ralph H. Johnson Veterans Affairs Medical Center, which will operate a community-based outpatient clinic from the facility,” said Naval Health Clinic Charleston Commanding Officer Capt. Celia H. Horton.
The partnership is designed to enhance health care for local military and veteran beneficiaries. Active-duty personnel, retirees, their respective families and veterans will share in the benefits, technology and experience of a tertiary-level VA medical center offering comprehensive primary, mental health and specialty services.
In addition to replacing the Navy’s medical facilities, the consolidated clinic in Goose Creek will be one of four outpatient clinics that supplement the RHJ-VA Medical Center in Charleston. The other clinics are located in Myrtle Beach and Beaufort, S.C., and Savannah, Ga.
John E. Barilich, the new director of the RHJ-VA, said the VA’s existing Goose Creek primary care clinic is in a temporary location and was always planned to go into a joint-use building in an area with a high concentration of military personnel.
“There’s a very large population of military and retired military in the Goose Creek area from when the shipyard was here,” said Barilich. “That’s one of the reasons for having our clinic in that area. We’re providing easier access for veterans and decreasing demands on the (RHJ-VA) hospital in Charleston.”
Charleston is one of several metropolitan areas in which closer DOD/VA partnerships are forming. Joint-use DOD/VA medical facilities are being built in Pensacola, Fla.; San Antonio; and Chicago. Some of the facilities are similar in scope and concept to the Goose Creek clinic. For example, the facility in Chicago offers comprehensive inpatient and outpatient care to Navy personnel, their families and veterans.
Barilich said the Charleston VA facility has begun discussions for collaborating further with the Navy and with other branches of the armed forces.
“It’s in the early discussion stage, but we’re certainly looking at additional opportunities to partner with the Navy, especially in areas that might have scarcity or a lack of availability to do certain things,” he said. “For instance, and this is in the preliminary stages, but we may be sharing some imaging equipment or having the Navy’s technologists work with us to do lab testing and training.
“We’re looking at situations where we can complement each other to provide the full gamut of care.”
Another “very early stage” discussion involves the VA working with the Air Force’s 437th airlift command group, as well as with the Naval Health Care Clinic in Charleston and the Naval Hospital in Beaufort, to explore workload and capabilities.
“We’re at the table and enjoying discussions,” Barilich said. “It’s very exciting to look at broadening the services and finding ways to do it seamlessly.”
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