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Phoenix 32nd Street VA Clinic celebrates one-year

Medical Center Director Bryan Matthews speaks with Veterans during ceremony
Phoenix VA Medical Center Director Bryan Matthews speak with Guest speaker David Lucier, president of the Arizona Veterans and Military Alliance, and Reggie Yates, past commander for the United Arizona Veterans, during the 1-year anniversary at Phoenix 32nd Street VA Clinic.

The Phoenix Veteran’s Affairs Health Care System celebrated the Phoenix 32nd Street VA Clinic’s one-year anniversary with a ceremony at the clinic, June 27.

“I wasn’t here for the ribbon cutting,” said Medical Center Director Bryan Matthews, “but I can tell you, well before I got here, that I heard about this amazing clinic. I remember the first time that I drove up, I thought, wow, this is a beautiful building. It’s a big deal, not only for Veterans, but for the community.”

Since its opening, the Phoenix 32nd Street VA Clinic has held more than 37,000 mental health visits, and more than 27,000 primary care visits. The clinic only started tracking lab draws in January, but since then they have conducted about 9,000 labs. The clinic’s pharmacy has served more than 13,000 patients filling 28,000 prescriptions, with an average wait time of only six to eight minutes.

“We are developing a dedicated walk-in clinic for Veterans for same day services who cannot get into their PAC teams, and we are developing a wellness room for our employees,” said Matthews. “We’re doing that because if our employees are happy, the services that they provide to Veterans is going to be top notch.”

David Lucier, guest speaker for the ceremony recalled, “when I returned home from Afghanistan in 2008 at the ripe old age of 60, I, like many, of returning service members, asked myself: well now what? Well, I took the first step in embracing the Arizona Veterans community, and it became quickly apparent that I was going to have to approach this unique community at the local, state, and federal levels. Fast forward several years and it was apparent that we had problems in health and wellness, especially with our VA Medical Center here in Phoenix. I have no doubt that the high ideals and objectives for the VA medical system would be brought to fruition through teamwork, dedication and hard work. This is true. I believe that because I’m a Veteran. I believe it because that’s what we do.”

In attendance were David Lucier, President of the AZ Veterans and Military Alliance; Bryan Osuna, Military and Veterans Representative for Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva; Commander Ralph Cota and members from American Legion Post 124; Reggie Yates, past commander for the United Arizona Veterans; Laura Hechel, from the Veterans Advisory Panel; and Sandra Ballester, from the American Coalition/Be Connected.