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Some military veterans in Tampa, Fla., say it may be time for a local VA hospital to consider shutting down its temporary emergency room – located in the hospital’s parking garage.
The James A. Haley VA Medical Center opened the makeshift facility about a year ago, in response to the coronavirus outbreak, for treating patients when the hospital’s regular ER gets too crowded, WFLA-TV of Tampa reported.
But veterans who’ve been treated there say the so-called garage ER can get chilly some days, hot and humid other days – and can fall short on providing privacy.
And he added that it s sorely needed. We re happy about it, finally. It s just taken forever to get it, Clark said. The population of veterans in Polk County has never been well-served.
The clinic was approved in 2017. The lot near Sam s Club was one of three locations considered, in addition to a location on Kathleen Road near I-4 and one off the Polk Parkway near Florida Polytechnic University, according to LkldNow.com. That s four years, Clark said. We ve won wars in less time.
Clark said the South Pipkin clinic is severely overwhelmed with patients, which is why he s disappointed the new clinic won t start taking patients until 2024. The existing clinic currently serves 23,000 veterans, according to the press release.