Location For New Veterans Clinic in Green Bay Announced

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:       
December 2, 2009

LOCATION  FOR  NEW  VETERANS  CLINIC  IN  GREEN  BAY  ANNOUNCED

Clinic will serve approximately 20,000 veterans and have at least 250 people on staff

(GREEN BAY, WI)  Congressman Steve Kagen, M.D. and Mayor Jim Schmitt are proud to announce the location for the new Milo C. Huempfner Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Center.  The new Health Care Center will be at 2800 University Ave in Green Bay.

“This new Health Care Center will provide our veterans the benefits they have earned close to home,” said Dr. Kagen.  “They served our country bravely and now we have a responsibility to serve them here at home.  This location is convenient and accessible.  The expanded clinic will not only save our veterans time and money, it will also create new higher wage jobs and generate revenue in our community.  This has been a long process and I am very grateful to everyone in the Veterans Administration for listening to the needs of our veterans across Northeast Wisconsin.”

“We have been working with property owners and Veterans Administration officials on this project since July,” said Mayor Schmitt.  “It has been a long five months and an unbelievably competitive project.   This is an important facility for all the veterans who depend on the services provided by the Veterans Administration as well as for the greater Green Bay community.  This will create several hundred permanent full-time positions and nearly 500 construction jobs.  We couldn’t be happier that they chose to locate this facility in the City of Green Bay.”

The new clinic will make it easier for Northeast Wisconsin veterans to receive quality care nearby and offer specialty services previously available only in Milwaukee.  According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, it will serve approximately 20,000 veterans, have at least 250 staff and provide parking for approximately 1,200 cars.

Recognizing the need for surgical and medical services in our area, Dr. Kagen and the Veterans Administration moved the request for the expanded Ambulatory Surgery/Outpatient Diagnostic Center and Community Based Outpatient Clinic from FY 2010 to FY 2009.  The VA center will increase the total square feet available from 12,000 to over 160,000.

Legislation authorizing the new clinic was passed with Kagen’s support by the House of Representatives in September of 2008. In October 2008, President George W. Bush signed the Veterans Mental Health and Other Care Improvements Act into law, which included the new clinic.

Milo C. Huempfner is Brown County’s highest decorated soldier in World War II.  Huempfner earned the reputation of ‘One Man Army’ for his attacks against an armored Nazi column during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944. Congressman Kagen introduced legislation to honor Huempfner and to name the clinic for him.

Kagen and Schmitt will hold a press conference at the new site on Friday, December 4.  Details to be determined.