Interim Community-Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) Moves to Sedro-Woolley Site, Expands Care for Veterans

Washington, D.C. – VA Puget Sound has announced that on May 27, Northwest Washington’s interim veterans’ outpatient clinic will move from its current site at a mobile clinic in Mount Vernon to a new, temporary location on the campus of United General Hospital in Sedro-Woolley, enabling the VA to serve more veterans at a larger facility. U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash) and Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02) continue to advocate for the VA to open a permanent community-based outpatient clinic (CBOC) in Northwest Washington as soon as possible.

“The VA’s announcement that they are moving the interim clinic to a larger facility with expanded hours means that more veterans will get the care they need close to home,” said Larsen. “This is one more step toward a permanent community-based outpatient clinic for Northwest Washington veterans. Senator Murray and I will keep pushing until the doors of the permanent facility are open for business.”

“For years, Northwest veterans have faced tremendous barriers to the care they deserve,” Murray said. “This is another step forward in getting them the care they need and deserve.  Representative Larsen and I are committed to getting a permanent clinic up and running for the veterans of Northwest Washington.”

For a number of years, Murray and Larsen have pressed the VA to open a permanent community-based outpatient clinic in Northwest Washington, advocating on behalf of many local veterans who spend hours in traffic to get needed medical care at the VA hospital in Seattle. 

In February, 2007, Murray and Larsen praised the VA’s announcement of plans to open a community-based outpatient clinic in the Mount Vernon area to serve veterans in a five-county area. In February, 2008, the VA announced that it had opened a temporary facility at Skagit Valley Hospital to provide primary and mental health services to some veterans enrolled in the VA system.

The VA’s announcement this week they will be moving the temporary facility to the campus of United General Hospital in Sedro-Woolley means that more local veterans will receive care at a larger facility with expanded hours while the VA plans for the permanent site to open.