Locations
Charles Wilson VA Outpatient Clinic
Parent Facility: Michael E DeBakey VAMC (Houston)
Phone: (713) 791-1414 or (800) 553-2278
The Charles Wilson VA Outpatient Clinic (CWOPC), a satellite of Houston’s Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center (MEDVAMC), is located in Lufkin, Texas. Activated on March 23, 1991, the 19,300 square foot clinic located at 1301 West Frank has established a reputation for delivering high quality health care to the Veterans of deep East Texas.
A staff of 55 provides primary care, laboratory, radiology, pharmacy, social work, nutrition, and mental health services to Veterans in the area. In fiscal year 2010, there were 49,423 outpatient visits to the clinic.
In 1998, the clinic installed a state of the art digital radiological system, the first in East Texas. The following year, the VA’s Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS) was implemented at the clinic. CPRS offers health care providers a complete electronic record covering all aspects of patient care, including reminders for preventive health care, electronic entry of pharmaceutical orders, display of laboratory results, consultation requests, x-rays, and pathology slides. The importance of this system was demonstrated after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Medical information for every New Orleans VA patient was available at any VA medical center and by any VA physician nationwide.
On June 7, 2000, the Lufkin Mental Health Annex at 1514 Ellis opened to provide additional mental health services for its Veterans.
In 2004, the clinic installed new laboratory technology to enable additional testing to be completed in-house. The same year, the ScriptPro 200 Robotic Prescription Dispensing Systems was installed to perform the time consuming and tedious tasks of counting, filling, and labeling prescriptions, allowing staff to spend more time with customers. The “200” in the name indicates the system is designed to dispense the 200 medications “most-filled” in the clinic pharmacy.
The VA outpatient clinic was officially renamed under Public Law 108-422 (S. 424) in honor of former U.S. Representative Charles Wilson. A renaming ceremony was held on July 7, 2005.
Wilson, born in Trinity, Texas, received a bachelor’s degree from the United States Naval Academy in 1956 and served in the United States Navy, with rank of lieutenant from 1956 to 1960. He was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1960 and then elected to the Texas Senate in 1966. In 1973, Wilson was elected to the 93rd United States Congress and served as a U.S. Representative until 1997.
In 2007, the Charles Wilson VA Outpatient Clinic accepted funds from the T.L.L. Foundation to operate a 50-passenger coach with a restroom and capacity for two wheelchair bound passengers to transport Veterans from Lufkin to the MEDVAMC.
On August 28, 2009, the Charles Wilson VA Outpatient Clinic officially opened the doors of its new home at 2206 North John Redditt Drive.
Located on approximately seven acres of land on the west side of Lufkin just off Loop 287, this 37,000 square-foot facility replaced both the current Lufkin VA Outpatient Clinic located at 1301 West Frank Avenue and the Mental Health Clinic Annex at 1514 Ellis Avenue, a significant convenience for Veterans and staff who frequently travel between locations.
In primary care, the new clinic has eight provider offices, eight nurse offices, 24 examination rooms, a pulmonary function laboratory, and an observation room. On the mental health side of the building, there are 15 rooms for clinical staff and three group therapy rooms. The space for the laboratory, radiology, and pharmacy departments more than doubled in size. The new facility has 250 parking spaces, approximately three times that of the building at 1301 West Frank Avenue. In the near future, optometry services will also be offered.
