New Queens Veterans Clinic Set To Open Queens Has New Yorks Largest Number Of Veterans

Opening day ceremonies will launch Queens first veterans outpatient medical clinic at 41-03 Queens Blvd., in Sunnyside, Monday, Oct. 30, it was announced by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
Among the featured speakers will be Dr. Thomas Garthwaite, VA under secretary of health and head of the Veterans Health Care Administration, Congressman Joseph Crowley and Queens Borough President Claire Shulman.
Helping to make this new center a reality, Crowley had earlier secured an additional $66.2 million increase in VA health care project funding for New York veterans, after months of negotiations.
Hailing Crowleys efforts, Shulman said that while Queens has more veterans than any other borough, a shortage of facilities compels many vets to travel outside of Queens for the medical services they need.
"This new clinic in Northern Queens," she declared, "will go a long way towards relieving the tiresome and expensive burden of traveling for older veterans in need of health care." One-third of all New York City veterans live in Queens, she declared.
Budgeted at $350,000, the new 1,7000-square-foot outpatient health center will be located in a former medical complex.
The clinic will provide annual health services for an estimated 4,000 Queens veterans, and will reduce the long trips they are currently required to make to the VA Medical Center on 130 Kingsbridge Road in The Bronx.
The new medical unit will be geared to serve Queens over 95,000 residents who fought in five major wars, ranging from 37,800 World War II vets to a hardy band of 20 World War I warriors. Also eligible, are more than 26,500 peacetime veterans.
An important key to the VA-staffed clinics importance is its convenient access to low-cost pharmacy services for Queens veterans.
The new facility will allow 4,000 borough residents to make 15,000 medical visits annually, instead of having to visit outlying VA clinics in The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Nassau or Suffolk.
Service veterans, according to VA regulations, may obtain a 30-day supply of prescribed medicine for as little as two dollars.
In addition to a full range of primary care services, veterans will also be able to receive flu and pneumonia vaccines as well as annual cancer screenings.
According to current VA reports, Queens has the largest number of honorably discharged veterans in New York City: four times more than in Staten Island, twice as many as in The Bronx, 50 percent more than in Manhattan and 13 percent more than in Brooklyn.
Last March, when The Queens Courier exclusively reported the approval of the new clinic, Crowley said that because of Queens veterans higher-than-average numbers, they are "often older and sicker than their counterparts in other parts of the city."
Veterans seeking VA benefits for the first time must submit a copy of their service discharge (Form DD 214) which documents their service dates and types of discharge.
Further details concerning veterans eligibility can be obtained by calling (800) 827-1000.