Vitter Discusses "Big Step' Towards Completing Lafayette VA Clinic

Press Release

U.S. Sen. David Vitter today announced that he has succeeded in pressing U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki to expedite the process of establishing a Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) in Lafayette. Following its approval by Shinseki, a request for proposal (RFP) will now be returned to the VA Medical Center in Alexandria for final preparations before the pre-solicitation process begins in the Lafayette area.

"As a result of my frequent discussions with Secretary Shinseki's office and the VA's Real Property Office, the secretary has signed off on a key step that puts us closer to accepting bids for an expanded clinic in Lafayette," said Vitter. "This is great news, and while I'm encouraged by our continued progress so far, I'm going to continue working with all parties involved so we can get this top-notch facility in Acadiana up and running as soon as possible to ensure that we meet the needs of our veterans in the area."

Jim Nunn, vice chairman of the Veterans Action Coalition of South Louisiana, added, "Senator Vitter really cares about veterans' health care. The time he spent hounding the Department of Veterans Affairs confirms how much Senator Vitter cares. Nothing succeeds like persistence. David Vitter never stops."

This year, Vitter has held several meetings with both the VAMC Alexandria's administration and the Veterans Action Coalition to help expedite the process of establishing the expanded CBOC facility in Lafayette. The expedited approval from the VA office will dramatically reduce the anticipated wait time for the RFP to be released to prospective bidders.

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