Article Photos

SARANAC LAKE - Four months after the Veterans Administration decided to run an outpatient medical clinic for local veterans on its own, officials with the Stratton VA Medical Center in Albany still haven't found a place to put it.

Peter Potter, a spokesman for the Stratton VA, which oversees community-based outpatient clinics in the region, said they've had a few leads in the Saranac Lake area and Elizabethtown, but none that have panned out.

"We've been called to check into a couple places," he said. "Unfortunately, those places do not fit what the veterans need for space. Our biggest hurdle right now is finding a place in a good location with about 2,600 square feet."

Potter wouldn't name the sites the VA has considered locally but said one building they looked at in Saranac Lake is currently being used by a state agency.

"The building would have to be gutted and redone to handle patient care, which is just a little beyond what we can do," Potter said. "We're still actively pursuing every avenue possible to find locations in both communities."

Earlier this year, the VA received three bids to run an outpatient clinic in the Saranac Lake-Lake Placid area and Elizabethtown, where the current clinic is located.

But instead of selecting one of those proposals, the VA opted to staff and operate a clinic on its own. Instead of a single site, the VA is planning to split its staff between two locations: one in the Elizabethtown area and one in the Saranac Lake area.

Potter said medical staff from the VA have been involved in scouting locations in those areas.

"They're the ones who know what we can and can't use," he said. "They've been up there a lot, but they haven't found anything yet."

Frank Karl of Onchiota, senior vice president and adjutant of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3357 in Saranac Lake, has been working for a year-and-a-half to get a VA clinic located somewhere in the Tri-Lakes. He said a local clinic could serve more than 4,500 veterans in Saranac Lake and surrounding areas, who now have to travel to Malone, Elizabethtown, Plattsburgh or Albany to receive care.

In recent weeks, Karl has been trying to assist the VA by looking into potential locations for the clinic. He's passed information onto the VA about several possible sites, including the former Lake Clear Elementary School, part of which is currently being rented by Adirondack Medical Center; Camp Gabriels, a former prison the state shut down in July; and a local doctor's office.

Karl admits he's somewhat discouraged that a site hasn't been found yet.

"It's just frustrating the way the wheels turn," he said. "It would seem to me that with all the places going out of business up here that space would be the last problem they would have."

Potter said the VA has already hired a nurse and doctor to run the local clinic. He admits they hoped to have a location by now.

"It would have been nice," Potter said. "But I know there's more places out there, and we're still optimistic about our original estimate of getting it up and running in May."

Karl is hopeful that people in the community will contact the VA to suggest possible sites for the clinic.

"Sometimes that's what it takes to get the process rolling," he said.

Potter said the VA is open to taking suggestions from the public.

"We'll take whatever help we can get from the community," he said. "Certainly anybody that's got plus or minus 2,600 square feet of space is a good target."

Contact Chris Knight at 891-2600 ext. 24 or cknight@adirondack

dailyenterprise.com.