Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez hand-delivered a petition to U.S.
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough on Tuesday urging the VA to reopen a clinic in Lewis County. Perez, D-Skamania, handed the petition to McDonough, along with a letter outlining issues facing Southwest Washington veterans , during a tour of the VA Portland Health Care System’s Vancouver campus. The petition included 16,650 signatures from veterans, caregivers and Lewis County residents in support of the Chehalis clinic.
Perez sent the same petition and letter to McDonough in February but did not receive a response. Hand-delivering the document helped humanize the numbers, Perez said. “It’s important to me to make sure that the secretary understands the urgency of upholding our promise to our veterans and that they get the service that they deserve,” she said.
During the visit, Perez and McDonough toured the Veterans Affairs Farming and Recovery Mental Health Services facility on the southwest corner of the campus, 1601 E. Fourth Plain Blvd. The program hosts daily gardening sessions, agricultural vocational training and weekly courses from licensed providers for veterans recovering from substance abuse disorders.
They also met with VA Portland Health Care leadership and staff . During the meeting, Perez discussed the need for high-quality care to be more accessible for rural veterans. She stressed the urgency of not only reopening a VA clinic in Lewis County, but also ensuring veterans are awar.
