Potter County Commissioner Paul Heimel reported that he recently attended a meeting on veteran’s affairs and that the Coudersport VA medical services provided at the Mapleview facility are in peril.
“Washington has been looking at veteran’s services,” said Heimel at the Jan. 12 meeting. “The facility at Maple View operates two days a week. The Veteran’s Administration is regulating local VA clinics asking that they focus on comprehensive and prevention services. It’s really difficult to do those levels of care in a rural clinic.
“The bottom line is that they can’t find someone here. They asked me and Mike Pepper to put out the word that we need a medical provider, perhaps a retired doctor who could work two days a week. If we can’t, they don’t know how long our clinic can stay open. We need someone to work part time. We’re going to hold out hope.”
Commissioner Nancy Grupp reminded the community that Potter County has a van available to any veteran needing transportation to any medical appointment in any location.
“If the clinic closes, we do have that service,” she said.
