A new Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic coming to the Yuma Foothills next year won't be able to hire new staff members due to workforce cuts and a reshaping of the Veterans Health Administration, U.S. Sen. Ruben Gallego said.
VA secretary Doug Collins is appearing before senators in Washington to explain plans to overhaul the department.
The 30,000-square-foot facility located just off Interstate 8 near the Onvida Foothills Medical Plaza is designed to keep care closer to home for local veterans.
The clinic is expected to open in the summer of 2027. Officials say it represents a long-term partnership between the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System and Onvida Health.
At a hearing of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee this week, Sen. Gallego said that under the VA's newly imposed staffing caps, the Yuma facility not be able to hire new staff. This would force them to pull workers from already understaffed VA hospitals in Arizona.
The Yuma clinic will offer primary care, women’s health, physical and occupational therapy, lab and imaging services, as well as optometry and audiology — all in one location.
Gallego said he asked Collins “How can you guarantee that veterans in Yuma will be able to get medical care if these staffing caps are still existing? “How can I look my constituents in the eye and tell them that this VA does not understand that they are essentially robbing Peter to pay Paul and potentially not creating a fully functioning system in one place?”
The senator said he also pressed officials on wait times for mental health appointments at the VA, which can be long in Arizona.
