The United States Department of Veterans Affairs opened an outpatient clinic in Spokane to make primary care for veterans more accessible. This is in partnership with WSU Health Sciences Spokane.

WSU Spokane Chancellor Daryll DeWald said the new clinic will provide additional access to healthcare for veterans and expand educational opportunities for nursing, pharmacy and medical students. The clinic will also allow WSU to expand its medical research activities.

The clinic will be able to provide primary care to approximately 2,000 veterans, he said. Physician providers will work in teams to provide care to patients and refer them to specialists if needed. All medical care for veterans was previously done solely through the Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center.

The Spokane Teaching Health Clinic on the WSU Spokane campus houses the outpatient clinic, DeWald said. The health clinic offers residency programs for family medicine, internal medicine, psychiatry and radiology students.

The outpatient clinic will also provide training to students from WSU and other Washington universities including the University of Washington and Eastern Washington University, he said. Medical residents, as well as nursing, pharmacy and medical students, will have the opportunity to complete residency rotations through the new clinic. 

Students will also be able to complete their residency rotations through the Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center, he said.

The COVID-19 pandemic slowed down the opening, DeWald said. The last several months were spent making sure the clinic space was acceptable according to the VA requirements.

“It was remarkable that we were able to do this,” he said. “This is one of just a few clinics that are being opened during this time.”