COLUMBIA, S.C. — A hard-hat zone sits catty corner to the Dorn VA Medical Center, and it's been there for some time now. But, change is in motion.
Four new buildings and a walking path are coming soon - one of which will be open this summer.
"In the next several months we'll be using it again for primary care," said David Omura, Columbia VA Healthcare System CEO. "We'll have 40 individual treatment rooms. We will have three stories of services, and it'll provide 25,000 square feet of space for us to provide primary care spaces for veterans across the state."
Another building designed for post-surgery recovery breaks ground next week, set to be finished in a year.
You might ask: Why all these new buildings?
It boils down to serving the local veteran population, who rely on the VA for services.
In the last five years, the Dorn VA Medical Center has added 1,000 new staff members.
"We will be doubling in size down the road. The future is very bright," Omura said. "We're growing by leaps and bounds every year. Right now, we have a projection of 89,000 veterans that we will treat. Daily, we provide about 3,300 outpatient services a day,"
To this team at the VA, care is important.
"The reason why we have VAs across the nation is because we have many men and women who have put their lives on the line for all of us," Omura said.