Gluesenkamp Perez Again Urges VA to Reopen Clinic in Lewis County, Strengthen Local Veterans’ Health Care

Today, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA-03) sent a letter to Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins, urging the agency to reopen a VA clinic in Lewis County, after the Chehalis clinic was closed in 2021.

Under the last Administration, Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez didn’t hear back from the VA after hand-delivering her letter to both then-Secretary Denis McDonough and the agency’s Congressional Liaison – including a petition with more than 16,650 signatures from veterans, caregivers, and community members urging the VA to meet its promise to take care of Lewis County veterans by reopening a clinic.

Veterans in Lewis County have told the Congresswoman they can be forced to wait for hours on hold for appointments scheduled months away that require hours of driving. She has also spoken with patients and providers at the VA Puget Sound’s Mobile Medical Unit that visits Chehalis one day a week with capacity to serve only 8 veterans.

In 2023, Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez wrote to the VA Secretary requesting additional county-level data to address these issues, which the agency was unable to produce.

Last month, Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez introduced bipartisan legislation to expand eligibility for rural veterans, including those in Lewis County, to get transportation to VA health facilities.

“By closing the Lewis County Community-Based Outpatient Clinic and replacing it with an inadequate Mobile Medical Unit, the VA Puget Sound Health Care System has put lifesaving care out of reach of many veterans. For these reasons, I urge you to reopen the facility in Lewis County,” wrote Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez in the letter. “In return for their service to our country, we must uphold our promise to ensure veterans have the access to health care necessary to lead a full and healthy life after their time in the armed services has ended. I am gravely concerned that the VA is not upholding this promise for the veterans of Lewis County. I stand ready to work with you to address these issues.”

Full text of the letter can be found here.

Nearly 1 in 4 veterans in Washington live in rural areas, and there are roughly 2.7 million veterans in rural areas across the country who are enrolled in and rely on the VA’s health care system.  

Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez has recovered over $542,000 for constituents owed to them by the Department of Veterans Affairs. She also co-led the bipartisan VET MEDS Act to support veterans’ access to VA-certified specialists and examiners in rural and high-need communities, which was signed into law as part of a larger Senate package in 2023.