BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – More than 12,000 veterans in the Baton Rouge area will soon have an easier path to health care. The Department of Veterans Affairs broke ground Tuesday on a new consolidated clinic, combining services currently split between two sites.
Ronald Crowley, a Marine Corps veteran who served in the infantry from 1969 to 1972, regularly uses the two VA clinics in Baton Rouge — one on Essen Lane and one on Anselmo. The clinics are about a 10-minute drive from each other, but veterans needing CAT scans, MRIs, or other mental health services currently have to drive 90 miles to the facility in New Orleans.
“We need all the support we can get,” Crowley said. “You know, veterans, our veterans are hurting. There’s not enough support.”
Crowley said Louisiana is a supportive state for veterans, and Baton Rouge in particular has been a strong supporter.
“As you get older, you don’t want to drive,” Crowley said. “You know, you get lost easier, you know, and it’s just not fun being on the road these days as you get older.”
One building, multiple services
That is the idea behind the new Baton Rouge VA clinic. The two existing clinics in Baton Rouge will become one, and the new facility will include services that were not previously offered there.
“It’s all under one roof,” said Jack Gootee, acting medical center director for the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System. “So if you have a primary care appointment and a mental health appointment, it’s all in the same building.”
Gootee said the new building will add MRI, CT scan, pulmonary function testing and ultrasound services that were not previously available at the Baton Rouge clinics. The current Essen Lane and Anselmo clinics are leased spaces, and those leases will expire once the new facility opens, Gootee said.
“They can have a dental appointment, have a mental health appointment, have a primary care appointment, and also do physical therapy all in the same building,” Gootee said.
Project cost and timeline
The project costs around $30 million, funded through the VA’s capital investment budget. The new building will span 100,000 square feet with 600 parking spaces.
Fernando Rivera, network director for Veterans Integrated Service, said the new building adds 20,000 square feet of space beyond what the current two clinics provide.
“We wanted to not only provide more services to veterans in the Baton Rouge area, but we wanted to provide more parking spaces,” Rivera said. “We wanted to provide additional clinic exam rooms for more providers because we have a growing clinic.”
Construction is expected to start this month, with completion targeted for January 2029. Gootee said activation of the facility would take about six months after construction is complete, putting the clinic on track to open around mid-2029.
“We have a lot of veterans that live in this catchment area that are part of our, we have 23 parishes that we cover,” Gootee said. “Instead of them having to catch transportation to go to New Orleans, they can have everything done here on site in this very new space.”
Expanded eligibility and mental health focus
James Baehr, general counsel of the Department of Veterans Affairs, is a Louisiana native, a Marine Corps Reservist, and a veteran who receives care through the VA.
“More space for mental health, more space for camaraderie and communion, and those things that really lift veteran spirits to be able to hang out with other veterans, hang out with health care providers who can help them meet them where they are in life and help them improve and heal,” Baehr said.
Baehr said the VA has opened more than 40 direct care clinics nationwide during the current administration and expects to reach about 50 by the end of the month.
“We have around 9 million veterans who take advantage of VA health care,” Baehr said. “We know there are around 18 million veterans in this country, so there are a lot more people that could take advantage of VA health care.”
Baehr said expanded eligibility under laws including the PACT Act, which covers veterans exposed to toxic substances, means more veterans now qualify for VA health care than in the past.
Rivera said the project has received support from veteran advocacy groups, the governor’s office and state legislative members.
“These projects are part of capital investment projects that the VA does through its appropriated budget,” Rivera said.
For veterans like Crowley, the wait will be worth it.
“Any help that we can get to help a veteran is why we’re here,” Crowley said. “You know, to keep us going. We’ve already paid the price through our service in the military to our country. We deserve the very best when we get back.”
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