Dublin VA building primary care and Women’s Health clinic

Women Veterans are Dublin VA’s fastest growing demographic, increasing enrollment by 20 percent over the last two years. To meet the growing need, Dublin VA is building a $17 million standalone primary care and Women’s Health clinic to address the growing need for space to increase staff for additional services.

The new 5,700 sq. ft. clinic will provide primary care, mental health, Whole Health, gynecological services, lactation rooms and maternity care. Plans are to hopefully provide in-demand mammography imaging among many other services.

While sharing the new building with primary care, the Women’s Health clinic will only be accessed from the outside to preserve privacy with a welcoming atmosphere.

“Dublin VAMC has been providing rooms for Veteran mothers to breastfeed or use for pumping breast milk for years,” said Women Veterans program manager Debbie Mullis. “Our rooms are equipped with a chair that reclines for multiple levels of comfort, exam table and a refrigerator to store breast milk. We have a cabinet to store breast pumps, alleviating Veteran mothers from bringing equipment back and forth.”

Senator Ossoff speaks with nurse Christine Grizzard, Women’s Health nurse navigator.

Sen. Ossoff praises Dublin VA’s women Veterans’ programs

Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia is on a mission to ensure VA facilities provide designated space for Veteran mothers to breastfeed through bipartisan legislation.

On a recent visit, Ossoff was pleasantly surprised to find that Carl Vinson VA and almost half of its outpatient clinics already provide private space for Veteran mothers to breastfeed and lactation via breast pump for future use.

“It’s great that Dublin VA is moving in that direction and has shown leadership here,” Ossoff said. “I’m sure there are lessons learned from what they’ve done for other VA facilities.

“Determined to continue providing world-class feminine health care.”

Dublin VAMC also provides breastfeeding space at its Macon, Brunswick, and Tifton clinics and is working to create space at the Albany, Perry, Milledgeville, and Robins Air Force Base clinics to meet the needs of the exponentially growing Women Veteran enrollment.

“More than 5,200 women Veterans currently receive health care at Dublin VA and we’re determined to continue providing world-class feminine health care. We want to bring in additional services to provide women Veterans an opportunity to get most of their health care needs under one roof,” Mullis said. “We have a robust team from multiple disciplines dedicated to providing the best care for our women Veterans but we’ll never stop growing or striving for improvement.”