Less travel and quicker care. That is what the Roseburg Veterans Affairs Healthcare System hopes to accomplish with moving its clinic to North Bend by the beginning of next year.

Roseburg VA Director Susan Yeager and several VA staff members have been answering questions about the VA’s move from Bandon to North Bend.

“We work for veterans. We work for you,” Yeager said. “That is the reason we exist.”

The VA has been in its Bandon location for 16 years, but with its lease at the facility ending this year, the agency decided it was time to move closer to the center of the veteran population in Coos County.

“It’s getting harder and harder for veterans to travel,” Yeager said.

In April, the Roseburg VA announced it will close its Bandon clinic and build a bigger facility on a site west of the Pony Village Mall near the intersection of Marion Avenue and 12th Street. About 60 percent of the veterans using the Bandon clinic live in the Coos Bay and North Bend area.

The new clinic will be about 4,000 square-feet bigger than the VA’s  current clinic and be designed for speedy service to patients.

Frank Van Meter, a Curry County veterans’ service officer, was concerned how the move would affect the about 19 percent of the patients from the Bandon area who use the current clinic.

He believes some will go to the clinic in Brookings, which is running at close to capacity.

“Some of those veterans are going to think its more feasible to go to Brookings,” Van Meter said.

Yeager said there are plans to add another part-time clinic in Crescent City, Calif. to take some pressure off the Brookings facility.

Ground breaking on the North Bend clinic is scheduled later this month with an anticipated opening in January or February of next year.

Staff Writer Jolene Guzman covers Coquille, Myrtle Point and veterans issues for The World. She can be reached by calling 269-1222, ext. 235; or by e-mailing to jguzman@theworldlink.com.