[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 118 (Friday, August 3, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1412]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


       IN RECOGNITION OF THE VETERANS OUTREACH CLINIC IN PLYMOUTH

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                        HON. WILLIAM R. KEATING

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, August 2, 2012

  Mr. KEATING. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the opening of 
the new Veterans Outreach Clinic in Plymouth.
   Our veterans in the South Shore of Massachusetts have long been 
calling for a local veterans' medical center of their own. After many 
years of working toward achieving this goal, the Department of Veterans 
Affairs' regional office in Boston was proud to announce that they 
would be opening a new Veterans Outreach Clinic in the Town of 
Plymouth. For the first time, veterans in the Plymouth area will no 
longer need to travel to Cape Cod, Brockton, or Boston in order to 
receive care. In particular, this new addition to the VA Boston 
Healthcare system will make a tremendous difference to those unable to 
seek medical care due to limited mobility or transportation resources. 
As approximately 40,000 veterans live in Plymouth County alone, the new 
Veterans Outreach Clinic will go a long way towards providing the 
quality care that our veterans deserve without overburdening them with 
long travel.
   When the Veterans Outreach Clinic opens next spring, it will already 
have the capacity to care for up to six hundred patients. A doctor, a 
nurse, an LPN, and a medical assistant will be on hand five days a week 
to treat veterans and to assist them with the various challenges that 
they may face. It is essential that we do not forget the sacrifices 
that our veteran population has made for our country. We must continue 
to care for these men and women once they return home, and ensuring 
access to medical services is a necessary facet of the long-term care 
that our veterans deserve.
   Mr. Speaker, it brings me great pride to recognize the opening of 
the new Veterans Outreach Clinic in Plymouth. I urge my colleagues to 
join me in recognizing the importance of this new facility, and of the 
valuable role that it will play in the lives of many local veterans.

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