* 45,861: Number of veterans in Bradley, Hamilton, Polk, McMinn, Meigs, Rhea counties
* 16,394: Number of veterans now between the ages of 65 and 84
* 17,944: Estimated number of veterans between the ages of 65 and 84 by 2014
Source: Bradley County Veterans Services
DONATIONS NEEDED
Bradley County Veterans Services is looking for help building a state veterans home to care for elderly veterans in the area. Those who may be interested in donating land on which to house the project or funds to help construct can call Joe Davis at 728-7149.
Rex Jones III says he started hearing rumblings about a new U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs clinic coming to McMinn County about three years ago, and he's been crossing his fingers ever since.
The Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran has to drive from his hometown of Niota to either Chattanooga, a 45-minute trip, or Mufreesboro, about 160 miles away, at least once a month for treatment of wounds he sustained in a February 2005 bomb blast.
Luckily, he's soon going to get his wish for just a 10-minute commute to the doctor. The VA is about to construct an outpatient health care facility in McMinn County, said VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System spokesman Chris Conklin.
"Our goal right now is to have this clinic open by the end of the year," he said. "I think it's going to be a real asset to the veterans in McMinn County, because they are going to be able to get their health care in a much more efficient manner."
The clinic will include preventive medicine, primary care, mental health care, basic lab service and radiology all under one roof, according to Mr. Conklin. The cost to build the facility has not yet been released because officials are still accepting bids.
Hopefully, it will close the gap in services that the VA identified a few years ago as part of its Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services initiative, Mr. Conklin said. CARES marked a nationwide effort to revamp veteran services for the new generation of service members, he explained.
"The goal is that wherever a veteran is, they can receive health care within a 25-mile radius," he said.
Mr. Jones says he can't wait for that luxury, and neither can many of his friends.
"There's a lot of us (veterans) out here in the McMinn County area," he said.
Ronnie Williams, president of the Chattanooga Area Veterans Council, said he's concerned not only about care for rural Iraq and Afghanistan veterans such as Mr. Jones, but also World War II veterans who are needing end-of-life care. He met Friday with Bradley County Veterans Services representatives to hash out fundraising plans for a state veterans home in that county.
It would be the fifth veterans home in the state, the closest existing facility being in Knoxville, according to Bradley County Veterans Services Officer Joe Davis.
Mr. Davis said the project, which "was in doubt for a while," is supposed to appear on the VA's priority list this year for the first time. That would mean a 120-bed facility to house the area's elderly veterans could be built by 2013 or 2014, he said.
"There's a lot of veterans out there that haven't had a good financial life, and haven't accumulated enough (for a private nursing home). They can't afford that kind of care," Mr. Davis said.
Bradley County and the City of Cleveland have donated $2 million apiece to the project, he said. With an anonymous donation of another $3 million plus around $13 million pledged by the VA, the project is well on its way.
But the group is still looking for a donor to provide land on which to build the veterans home, and members want to continue raising money to defray costs for already cash-strapped local governments. They are planning a golf tournament and shotgun raffle, among other events, Mr. Davis said.
Mr. Williams said his organization is eager to help out as much as possible.
"It would be a great amenity to the veterans of this region," he said.
