Effort to establish VA clinic in Libby moves forward

Within two months, a local clinic is slated to begin providing primary care in Libby for Lincoln County veterans, said Chuck Marsden, executive assistant to the director for Spokane Veterans Administration Medical Center.

“We’re hoping the middle to latter part of March to start seeing our first patients,” Marsden said, “but everything is not in place yet.”

The VA approved a new veterans outreach clinic for Libby last July to provide primary care and mental health services for the county’s nearly 3,800 veterans. Marsden said the clinic will initially only provide primary care, but will eventually be equipped to offer mental health services.

The VA awarded the bid to a Libby provider in December on the condition that the staff goes through the credentialing process, which includes background checks and takes four to six weeks, Marsden said. The VA’s computerized record system must also be installed and the staff trained to use it.

Marsden will not publicly reveal the Libby provider until the credentialing process has been completed and arrangements finalized.

Unlike the state’s other counties, which are served by Helena’s VA hospital, Lincoln County falls under the VA’s regional hospital in Spokane, Wash. Currently local veterans must travel to Spokane or Coeur d’Alene, Idaho for medical services or receive limited care from a mobile clinic in the form of a van that visits Troy and Libby. The mobile clinic provides services such as lab work and simple medical procedures like shots and surgery follow-ups.

The new clinic will be open five days per week, Marsden said, offering more services and flexibility than the mobile clinic, which only visits two days per month. Veterans will, however, continue to travel to Spokane for specialty care.

“It’s going to be good for the patients and good for the community, too,” Marsden said. “It will save a veteran a good 2-1/2 hour drive.”