Havre VA clinic moving to Holiday Village Mall, hiring full-time doctor

Havre’s Merril Lundman Veterans Affairs Clinic will be moving from its current location on 13th Street to the Holiday Village Mall in the coming months, with its new location opening in January of 2021.

Montana VA Health Care System’s Public Affairs Officer Katie Beall said the primary motivation behind this move is that the current space just isn’t big enough anymore.

“We’re looking to move because we need more space,” she said “… We’ve simply outgrown the space we’re in right now.”

Beall said the clinic is serving more and more people as the years go on and it has become clear that the space just isn’t able to accommodate the needs of everyone they serve as efficiently as they need.

She said the new location will have nearly three times the space and much more parking.

She said it will also have dramatically improved sound masking for the sake of patient privacy as well as public wifi.

Beall said the goal is to provide for a greater sense of community for veterans.

But she said the biggest change the clinic will see is the implementation of the VA’s PACT — Patient Advocate Care Team — model, where a team of care givers is available to treat all of a veteran’s needs, or to more easily connect them with the specialists necessary to fulfill those needs.

“When he or she comes into a clinic, they will have a care team waiting for them,” Beall said, “That’s always been how we’ve delivered care, but we’ve never had the clinic and that physical environment to support that specific model.”

She said the clinic’s new location will be renovated with that model in mind and will be the second VA Clinic of its kind in Montana. The first will be opening in Great Falls at the end of the month.

Beall said the primary benefit of this model is that it allows the various members of the care team to communicate and collaborate in a more streamlined way to more efficiently get veterans the care they need.

“Let’s say you need to get a dietician, or you need to get some lab work done or you need some mental health support, we’ll have everyone right there literally behind a door,” she said. “… The care comes to the veteran, which I’m really excited about.”

The implementation of the model will involve the hiring of a full-time doctor, which Beall said, is being worked on right now.

“We’ve been through one round of applicants, and we’re looking at a second round now,” she said.

Beall said a PACT team includes a primary care physician, a registered nurse care manager, a licensed practical nurse or medical assistant, and an administrative clerk.

“Every veteran has four medical experts making sure that, when they come in, anything they need to anticipate that will put them in the best health care situation, they’re connected to it,” she said.

These teams would be able to connect veterans with resources including mental health care providers, prosthetic experts, diabetes specialists, whatever is needed that the clinic doesn’t have.

Beall said the VA’s goal is to have every clinic in Montana using this model eventually.

She said Dick Anderson Construction in Great Falls will be the general contractor, and the design has already been approved. She said the architect is currently drafting the construction documents.