The Department for Veterans Affairs is opening a new $600 million medical center in Las Vegas, the VA’s first new medical center in 17 years.
According to the VA, a phased opening is planned for August through December and the facility’s outpatient mental health clinic will be operational by the end of this month.
Secretary Eric Shinseki said more than 164,000 veterans live in Clark, Nye and Lincoln counties and 234,000 reside in the state at-large.
The facility will have 90 inpatient beds, a 120-bed community living center and an ambulatory care center.
The 90 inpatient beds include a 22-bed mental health unit, 48 medical and surgical beds and 20 intensive care unit beds.
Located above the inpatient mental health clinic, the outpatient mental unit will provide veterans treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse gambling addiction and other conditions.
A telehealth unit will connect doctors with patients and other clinics through technology, the VA said.
Shinseki told a House panel in May the department plans to expand its mental health workforce as the number of veterans requiring such care has increased 35 percent since 2007.
