MARTINSVILLE — Veterans in Martinsville and Morgan County were used to staying local for their medical needs through the Department of Veterans Affairs. They now have to travel at least 20 minutes away for VA services.
The VA clinic in Martinsville closed for good on Friday. The clinic's services are moving to the new Bloomington VA clinic, which will open on Monday.
"It would have been nice if they talked to us first, but nobody did that," said Chester Jandreau, a retired Army veteran who lives in Martinsville. "They came after the fact and said, 'Now you've got to move.'"
"You just feel kind of left out," added Navy veteran Garry Leonard. "It's like the VA said, 'You guys take care of yourselves.'"
"I'm going to miss the convenience of the local office," said Air Force veteran Phil Deckard. "If I felt like I needed some medical attention, I often would just stop in and see if the doctor was available."
Patients of the Martinsville clinic learned of the closure through a letter in the mail. While the VA said most of its staff will migrate down Interstate 69 to Bloomington, some veterans will have to see new physicians if they visit the new clinic.
"The doctor I had is going to Roudebush in Indianapolis," Leonard said. "It's disappointing to have to start again with a new doctor."
"If I want to keep the optometrist I had, I would have to go all the way to Shelbyville for that," Jandreau added.
Health care is a vital need for Morgan County's veterans as they age. According to VA statistics, nearly half of the 5,391 veterans who live in Morgan County are over the age of 65.
"If you think about the nursing home veterans, it's a lot farther for them to travel," said Kyle Sichting, a younger retired Air Force veteran in Martinsville who helps coordinate appointment rides for older servicemembers. "To have something that really focused on the local veterans and helped us out in a small town like this was something, and we hate to see that go away."
In a release, the VA said it consolidated services at the new Bloomington clinic because it could not renew the Martinsville clinic's lease and because traveling to Bloomington is easier with the completion of Interstate 69.
However, some veterans in Morgan County will remain frustrated that they can no longer access government health care in their community.
"It seems like they don't really care about our input," Jandreau said. "We feel like they're saying, 'Take it, accept it,' and that's the way it is."
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