As a fitting celebration of the Veterans Day holiday, the Tuscaloosa Veterans Affairs Medical Center announced the expansion of services at its Selma Outpatient Clinic.

Public Affairs Officer Damon A. Stevenson said in alignment with the VA Central Office, the Office of Rural Health’s goal is to improve access and quality of care for enrolled veterans in rural areas.

“The location provides better access to healthcare for veterans in the central Alabama counties of Dallas, Perry, Chilton, Autauga and Wilcox,” he said. “The new outpatient clinic significantly improves access to primary care services for veterans living in this area, and increases enrollment and use by all eligible veterans living nearby.”

A patient of the clinic, Rolland Truman, said the clinic impressed him right away when he sought care.

“The care I’ve received here is phenomenal,” he said. “I’m from California and this is the best care you can get. They’ve been extremely thorough. They’ve actually saved my life by determining that I needed stints.”

Stevenson said as part of the $215 million in competitive funding provided by VA in May 2009 to improve services specifically designed for veterans in rural areas, Tuscaloosa VA was awarded $1,136,877 to establish a home-based primary care team and also $334,182 to establish a mental health intensive case management rural access network for growth enhancement team, with both teams to operate from the Selma Outpatient Clinic.

Both teams, Stevenson said, became operational recently.

Social Worker Brenda Sanders said as volume has increased at the clinic, the need for larger facilities has also risen.

“In the past year, we have grown substantially,” she said. “It’s important to realize this is not home health service. This is where the clinic is actually taken to the patients. That includes the doctor, the nurses and the social worker.”

Dr. S.K. Das is the physician for the primary care clinic.

Dr. Thomas Athey is the physician for the Home Based Primary Care team, which began in June.

“This service takes the doctor’s office to eligible veterans’ homes when they are no longer able to travel to the clinic,” Stevenson said. “With these additions, Selma Outpatient Clinic will able to care for all veterans’ needs.”

For more information about enrollment or questions, call the clinic at 418-4975. The clinic is located at 206 Vaughan Memorial Drive.