PORTLAND — The VA Maine Healthcare System’s new Portland Veterans Affairs Clinic was officially dedicated Feb. 11, 2022, in a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at its new location on West Commercial Street. The clinic is scheduled to open this coming Monday, February 14, and will serve to replace and consolidate the existing VA clinic leases at the Saco and Portland locations.

Guest speakers included Department of Veterans Affairs Deputy Secretary, The Honorable Donald M. Remy, Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, VA New England Healthcare System Director, Ryan Lilly, and VA Maine’s Medical Center Director, Tracye B. Davis.

“This new Portland clinic is about more than just expanded access for Veterans in this community — as fundamentally important as that is,” said VA Deputy Secretary Remy, in a VA news release. “It is a model for clinics of the future. It’s about opening a space where we will fulfill our obligation and serve Vets as well as they’ve served us.”

The clinic will allow VA Maine to expand services to Veterans in a 62,500 square foot state-of-the-art, energy efficient facility. The facility will allow for increased Veteran access to a core set of services and additional specialty care in the southern part of Maine to include Primary Care, Telemedicine, Home Based Primary Care, Mental Health, Blood Draw, and Specialty Services.

“It will be a beacon to the Veterans in Maine that will let them know, we are here, we care, and we’re ready to provide them the health care services they deserve in a facility that works for them,” said VA Maine Director, Tracye B. Davis.

This project has been part of VA Maine’s plan for a large-scale replacement lease to increase capacity and services for Veterans in southern Maine, and VA worked with FDS JBB Portland LLC, the awarded contractor, on site selection and design completion. The new location will include a 250-space parking garage dedicated to Veterans and a 150-space surface parking lot for staff.

“With an on-site parking garage, nearby public transportation and a connected sidewalk that leads to downtown Portland, the clinic is convenient and safely accessible,” said the release.

Veterans are looking forward to the new clinic.

“I’m certainly very proud of the VA System and this new establishment they have here. I’m overwhelmed,” says Roger Lowell, Air Force Veteran, who had a chance to tour the clinic while it was still in its final stages of completion. “It’s fantastic to believe that we in Maine can have such service from the VA.”

The clinic will open Monday, February 14, 2022 and is located at 141 West Commercial St. Portland, ME. For more information about VA healthcare, visit VA Maine Health Care | Veterans Affairs or call 207-623-8411.