PORT ANGELES — U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks promised veterans Thursday he’ll draft a bill to make a “virtual VA clinic” a pilot project on the North Olympic Peninsula.
Dicks, addressing about 70 people at the Veterans Center, 261 S. Francis St., said he’d urge U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Shoreline, to take reciprocal action in the Senate.
“She is a tremendous advocate for the veterans,” said Dicks, D-Belfair, whose congressional district includes Clallam and Jefferson counties.
“We will get this bill drafted.”
Thursday’s meeting was hosted by Olympic Medical Center, which has offered to provide space, staff, and support services for a virtual VA clinic.
The staff would perform procedures that the Department of Veterans Affairs would pay for.
That would eliminate the need for — and the expense of — a brick-and-mortar facility staffed by Department of Veterans Affairs personnel.
Similar clinics could operate at Forks Community Hospital and Jefferson Healthcare hospital.
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